Dechen Dolkar  

Paro police have forwarded the case of an Indian woman who boarded a plane without a valid boarding pass in January to court.

The woman claimed that she was from Uttarakhand, India, and had come to Bhutan for leisure travel.

The woman was charged with four counts of petty misdemeanour cases—larceny, illegal immigration, theft of service, and deceptive practice.

On January 30, the woman was caught trying to board a plane bound for Thailand with an old ticket that was already used by another person.

According to Drukair, the boarding pass belonged to a Bhutanese who had travelled from Paro to Bangkok on February 5 last year.

According to the police, she has nicked a used ticket left at one of the counters at the airport.

The woman had crossed the immigration gate in Phuenthosling without any permit by deceptive practices. She was charged with illegal immigration and deceptive practice.

Throughout her journey from Phuentsholing to Thimphu and Thimphu to Paro, the woman used taxis and hotel services until she reached the airport. She had, however, not paid for all these services. She was charged with theft of services.

According to police, she had travelled to Sikkim and Nepal before coming to Bhutan.

She had no single penny on her at the time of her arrest.

A Drukair official said that at the counters she tricked the staff and told them that her passport was with her aunt who had already checked in and made it look like she was going to get it from her.

Although the airline staff did not entertain her check-in request, she had somehow passed through security and immigration checkpoints.

Officials couldn’t be contacted to answer how the woman entered the gate from Phuentsholing and check posts.

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