Two men arrested for helping at least 50 Bangladeshis get Indian documents

The Mumbai crime branch arrested two men for allegedly helping at least 50 Bangladeshi nationals acquire Indian passports, Aadhaar and PAN card using fake documents. The accused were running two shops at Sakinaka and Ghatkopar that were raided on Thursday night.

Akbar Pathan, deputy commissioner of police (Detection) said many forged documents like Pan cards, Aadhar cards, ration cards were seized in raids along with printing machines.

Crime branch officials revealed the modus operandi of the accused, identified as Hamid Khan alias Akhtar and Shatrajit Yadav.

Akhtar had a wide network and used it to find foreign nationals looking for Indian identity while Yadav used to help forge documents, said officials. The arrest comes a day after the arrest of two Bangladeshi nationals with forged identities.

24-year-old Rehan Shuon was held by immigration officials at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Terminus while using his fake passport to board a flight to Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates.

Rehan told crime branch officials that locals helped him get a fake birth certificate from a gram panchayat in West Bengal.

An agent in Mumbai then helped him acquire a PAN card and a reference letter from a politician, which he used to get an Aadhar card issued.

Rehan later procured an Indian passport, which he wanted to use in the United Arab Emirates for better prospects, said crime branch officials.

Rehan’s interrogation led to the arrest of another Bangladeshi national, 27-year-old Minasul Hasan, who was in the process of obtaining an Indian passport.