After militant’s arrest, passport verification to be more stringent in Deoband

Abdullah-al-Memon is suspected to have links with the Ansarullah Bangla Team, an al Qaeda-inspired Islamist extremist group active in Bangladesh.

Police in Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur have said they will work on a more effective method for verification of documents required for making passports and other identity cards in Deoband in the district after a suspected Bangladeshi terrorist was recently arrested with fake papers.

Passport verification will become strict in Deoband after a Bangladeshi militant was arrested with fake papers. (Reuters / Representative photo)

Deoband is known for Islamic seminary Darul Uloom and thousands of students from across the country and abroad come here to pursue Islamic studies.

Abdullah-al-Memon is suspected to have links with the Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), an al Qaeda-inspired Islamist extremist group active in Bangladesh, which is under the scanner for the murders of atheists and ‘liberal bloggers’ in the neighbouring country.

He stayed in Deoband for six years before shifting to Kutesra village of Muzaffarnagar in June this year.

The anti-terrorist squad (ATS) nabbed him on August 5 and recovered a fake passport, various ID cards including Aadhaar, and seals of officials from his house. He told ATS officials during interrogation that another Bangladeshi Faizan, who was also living in Deoband for years on a fake identity, helped him acquire the documents.

Emanuel said it was not possible to check each and every passport and ID card, but the force can ensure stringent verification of documents in the future and also verify existing documents of people in case of a complaint about their authenticity.