Based on a tip-off that a Sri Lankan national has been hiding at a hotel on Sathyadev Avenue in MRC Nagar with drugs, NIB-CID police searched the premises and secured one Joel Nirushan Samuel. Though no drug was found with him, a fake Indian passport in the name of David with his photograph was seized from him. Investigation revealed that Joel was staying in Madurai since 2019 to obtain the fake passport to flee to Ukraine. However, his plans were affected after the flights were cancelled due to the lockdown. Police said that he had been staying in the hotel for the last three months.

Police said that Sathyadev is native of Sri Lanka and was born in Chennai. His parents moved to London in his young age where he was prisoned from 2001 to 2006, he later fled to Dubai and Ukraine where he was jailed again for illegal activities. Last year, he reached Bengaluru and was arrested at the airport as the Intelligence Bureau (IB) had issued a lookout notice for him since he was said to be using an Indian passport.

Police said that he wanted to get back to Ukraine to meet his family members and obtained the fake passport. Joel Nirushan has been remanded in judicial custody.