E-Paper
Bangladeshi national trying for Indian passport held in Patna
The arrested youth is a resident of Mymensingh district in Bangladesh and had entered India via West Bengal.
PATNA A Bangladeshi national was arrested in the state capital for allegedly faking Indian nationality to obtain passport at the regional passport office (RPO) here on Tuesday.
The Bangladeshi, identified as Ahmed-Al-Fahad, is being interrogated. Fahad initially claimed that he belonged to a village under Khajauli police station in Madhubani district. He had applied for an Indian passport.
Confirming the arrest, city SP (central) Chandan Kumar Kushwaha told HT that the arrested youth was a resident of Bamnakhali-Raimni village under Trishal police station of Mymensingh district in Bangladesh, and had entered India via West Bengal with the help of touts. Mymensingh, formerly called Nasirabad, is a city in Mymensingh district of Bangladesh.
During interrogation, Fahad disclosed that he first reached Kolkata from where he left for Mumbai. He then went to Madhubani in Bihar where a middleman, Dipak Kumar Choudhary, promised to find him a job in the Gulf.
Choudhary’s mother, Usha Devi, sarpanch of Khajauli, kept him in her house for about three months and provided him with some documents. On the basis of those papers, Fahad got an Aadhaar card. The arrested youth said he wanted to go to the Gulf for employment. But Bangladeshi nationals are not allowed to work there. So, he wanted to get a passport made in India. He had come to Patna to apply for his passport when he was arrested.
He said the middleman also took a hefty amount for the work. Kushwaha said a case has been lodged against Choudhary, his mother and two others, Hukumlal Choudhary and Ram Ratan Choudhary, in this connection.
While scanning the documents, police found that the mobile number mentioned in his Aadhaar details was registered in the name of Usha. Besides, the names of Hukumlal and Ram Ratan were also mentioned as witnesses on the passport application.
Police said the RPO officials' suspicion grew during document verification. The doubts deepened when the applicant was unable to speak either Maithili or Hindi. He also could not remember the residence address mentioned in his Aadhaar card.
