On December 12 and 15, Immigration Department personnel inspecting passengers at Sittwe Airport in the Arakan State capital determined that four would-be air passengers were holding fake citizenship cards.

Ma Khin Khin Than, a 19-year-old Muslim woman from Nagara village, Minbya Township, who was planning to fly from Sittwe to Yangon via Myanmar National Airlines, was found to be in possession of a fake citizen ID card on December 12, Police Major Myo Win from the Arakan State head of police’s office told DMG.

On December 15, three Muslim women who live in Maungdaw Township and attempted to board a flight departing Sittwe Airport were also found with fake citizenship cards.

Upon further investigation, Kyaw San Min, 32, from Khamaung Dwe village in Pauktaw Township and Thar Maung, 54, a resident of Set Yone Zu ward in Sittwe, were arrested and accused of selling the cards to the women.

Another man allegedly involved, U Tun Thar, is on the run, according to police.

“They [counterfeit ID customers] have to pay K600,000 for a fake ID card. We know only that the four arrested Muslim women were going to Yangon. The details are still being investigated,” said an immigration officer.

The serial numbers on the fake ID cards discovered at Sittwe Airport gave the documents away as being forgeries, said U Sein Thar Tun, chief of staff of the Immigration Department in Sittwe.

U Sein Thar Tun has opened cases against the three men accused of making the fake ID cards as well as the four women found holding the fraudulent documents, under Sections 420 and 468 of the Penal Code, covering offences related to cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property, and forgery, respectively.