E-Paper
Two Bangaladeshi nationals with fake passports nabbed at airport
The accused were nabbed separately by immigration authorities at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport
MUMBAI: The Sahar police have arrested two Bangladeshi nationals for allegedly using Indian passports obtained through forgery for their international travel. The accused were nabbed separately by immigration authorities at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) – one of them was traveling to Ukraine while the other one had stayed in India illegally for three decades and then travelled to Mauritius, only to be deported.
According to the police, the first case was registered by an officer of the immigration department who found a passenger holding an Indian passport travelling to Moldova in Europe. The officer found while checking his passport that he had a Ukraine visa as well, and he claimed he was going to Ukraine via Moldova for propagating Buddhism.
Immigration authorities suspected some foul play and interviewed the passenger, which revealed that he was Bangladeshi national and his real name was Titu Barua, son of Nikhil Barua. He was born in 1990 in Binajuri in Bangladesh’s Chattogram. He came to Gwalior in 2016 and obtained an Aadhaar card and a PAN card with the help of an agent. Based on these documents, he also obtained an Indian passport in 2022. Immigration authorities also found a Bangladeshi identity proof on his mobile, and he was handed over to the Sahar police on Thursday for further legal procedure, said a police officer.
The second Bangladeshi national arrested by Sahar police was 43-year-old Tuhin Kumar Narayanchandra Das. Das had entered India illegally in 1994 and managed to get an Indian passport in 2005 by submitting forged supporting documents. While the passport was renewed in 2016, Das recently travelled to Mauritius but was refused entry and deported to India.
When immigration authorities at CSMIA interviewed him upon his return, they found Bangladeshi identity documents on his mobile phone, which revealed that he was born in Narail district in Bangladesh in 1981. He was supposed to be deported to Bangladesh, but was handed over to Sahar police as the Bangladeshi high commission did not acknowledge his citizenship.
The Sahar police have registered two separate cases with respect to the two accused under relevant sections of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Passport Act and the Foreigners Act.
