A 46-year-old Indian man arrested at Brisbane Airport last week for allegedly helping a fake Indian media contingent travel to Australia is a journalist from the north Indian state of Haryana.
Rakesh Kumar Sharma has been charged with an aggravated people smuggling offence, carrying a 20-year prison sentence for attempting to bring in eight men posing as a journalist covering the Commonwealth Games.
Mr Sharma- a senior journalist with a Hindi language newspaper– lives in Kurukshetra (154 Km from Delhi). His family members told the they weren’t aware of his arrest until a relative informed them.
“I don’t know what happened in Australia. I came to know from my brother-in-law that he is in trouble there,” Mr Sharma’s wife Priyanka said.
She said Mr Sharma left for Australia on March 27 and hasn’t heard from him since then.
Eight Indian nationals were detained at Brisbane airport on Wedensday. The Australian Border Force said the men had faudulent foreign media credentials. Source: ABF
She said her husband has visas for many countries and visited Australia for five days earlier this year.
“He had gone to Australia for five days. He has visas for several countries, including the US and Japan. But I don’t know what he does there,” she said.
Mr Sharma’s Facebook timeline shows his photos in the Commonwealth Games office on the Gold Coast. He was accredited to cover the Commonwealth Games.
The eight men, aged between 18 and 37, travelling with him on temporary activity visas were found to have fake CWG accreditation.
According to the Australian Border Force, an Airline Liaison Officer (ALO) in Bangkok had alerted them about the group on transit through Thailand. The ABF said the group was questioned and found to have “fraudulent foreign media credentials”.
Mr Sharma appeared in the Brisbane Magistrate’s Court on Thursday charged with an aggravated people smuggling offence. He is also accused of causing to present false or forged documents on behalf of the eight men who travelled with him.
The Magistrate ordered a Hindi interpreter to be organised when Mr Sharma appears in court again on Friday.
