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Lankan held with immigration seals in Chennai

A Sri Lankan was arrested at the Chennai airport international terminal after CISF personnel found him carrying two rubber stamps with immigration permit seals wrapped in a paper in his pant pocket.

Airport sources said Nageem Abdul Sukkur, 41, who came to Chennai to visit his uncle at Injambakkam cleared the customs and immigration checks before the CISF stopped him at the security clearance area.

He was scheduled to take AI 273 flight to Colombo at 2.30 pm on Thursday.

"He was found carrying two rubber stamps normally used by the immigration officials to give permission to arriving and departing passengers.

Initially, we thought that the passenger had stolen the rubber stamps when he crossed the immigration counters, but on checking, we found all the rubber stamps intact," an airport source said.

Sukkur on interrogation, informed the CISF that an airport official had given him an order to make replica of those two rubber stamps and so he was carrying them.

The CISF officials handed over the suspect to the Immigration Department.

An industry expert said the passenger could be part of the team that helps people with duplicate passports.

"While making duplicate passports for people, who want to return to India, these men have to affix the Immigration Departure permit seal from India so that they can land again.

He could be carrying these stamps for that purpose," the expert added. Courtesy: Deccan Chronicle
 

Chemistry Gold for Purnima

The Council of the Institute of Chemistry Ceylon will award this year's IChemC Gold Medal for a mid career chemist in recognition for honorary services rendered to the Institute to Purnima Jayasingha employed as a Senior Research Scientist at the Industrial Technology Institute of Sri Lanka.

Jayasinha who qualified as a Graduate Chemist of the Institute of Chemistry Ceylon in 1986 and obtained her M Phil degree from the Open University of Sri Lanka.