A special NIA court in Lucknow on Thursday sentenced four men to up to seven years of rigorous imprisonment for their role in a case involving a Rohingya trafficking network that brought people into India through Bangladesh, arranged forged Indian identity documents and facilitated the movement of some women to Malaysia and other countries, senior police officials said on Friday.
Special judge Umakant Jindal convicted Hafeez Shafiq alias Shabiullah, Mohammad Ismail, Azizur Rahman alias Aziz and Mufeezur Rahman alias Mufeez of offences relating to cheating, forgery, use of forged documents, criminal conspiracy, human trafficking and violations of the Foreigners Act.
According to prosecution officials, the court awarded the maximum seven-year sentence under IPC Sections 467, 471 and 370, including the provision relating to trafficking. They said the four were also sentenced under sections 419, 420, 468 and 120B of the IPC and relevant provisions of the Foreigners Act. The sentences will run concurrently, with the period already spent in custody set off against the sentence, they added.
A senior police official said the case originated from a Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) probe in June 2021, after investigators received information that forged documents were allegedly being prepared in Meerut and adjoining areas to establish Rohingya as Indian citizens. An ATS team raided Hafeez Shafiq’s premises in Meerut on June 17, 2021, and, according to the prosecution, recovered a UNHCR card, Aadhaar documents, passport photocopies, a document carrying Indian and foreign mobile numbers, and an identity card from Myanmar. Azizur Rahman and Mohammad Ismail were subsequently arrested from Khurja, with mobile phones recovered from them, he said.
The official said the operation involved bringing Rohingya from Bangladesh into India and arranging Aadhaar cards, voter identity cards, birth certificates, educational certificates and other forged documents to give them Indian identities. Investigators also alleged that some Rohingya women were trafficked to Malaysia and other countries through the network, forming the basis for the human trafficking charges.
{{/usCountry}}The official said the operation involved bringing Rohingya from Bangladesh into India and arranging Aadhaar cards, voter identity cards, birth certificates, educational certificates and other forged documents to give them Indian identities. Investigators also alleged that some Rohingya women were trafficked to Malaysia and other countries through the network, forming the basis for the human trafficking charges.
{{/usCountry}}Hafeez Shafiq and Azizur Rahman were additionally sentenced to two years’ imprisonment and fined ₹10,000 each under Section 12 of the Passport Act. The court imposed separate fines under other provisions, with additional imprisonment in case of non-payment.