Maharashtra: Illegal immigration racket busted with arrest of 8 Bangladeshis

Source:-https://indianexpress.com

The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad claims to have busted an illegal immigration racket with the arrest of eight men, for allegedly making forged Indian identity documents for Bangladeshi nationals to help them procure Indian passports. Of the eight arrested, the ATS said four are illegal Bangladeshi residents, and added that the racketeers have allegedly provided forged Indian identity documents to 85 Bangladesh nationals.

ATS officials said they recently received a tip-off that a Bangladesh national, Akram Khan, was involved in making forged documents and was illegally staying in Mumbai. Police laid a trap at Sewri and took him into custody. During questioning, officers learnt that the man, whose real name was Akram Noor Nabi Ollauddin Shaikh (28), hails from Bangladesh’s Noakhali district and had been staying in India without valid documents. He allegedly made forged Indian national identity cards, which he supplied to other Bangladeshis, that helped them in procuring passports. Akram revealed he got his documents made from Wadala-based Noornabi and Mohamed Rafiq Rehmatulla Sayyad (42), the mastermind of the racket. Police carried out a raid at Sayyad’s home in Mumbra and arrested him. Officers learnt that Sayyad and his three aides, ldris Mohammad Shaikh (57), Avin Kedar (35) and Nitin Nikam procured forged documents like school leaving certificates, birth certificates, fake rubber stamps, fake bank passbooks and election cards. “Sayyad, who works as an agent, has been in the business since 2013. He has provided passports to 446 individuals, of which 85 are Bangladesh immigrants,” said an officer.