Assam Agents Use Dead Man's ID To Get Passport For Bangladeshi Man, Arrested

Two men have been arrested in Assam for allegedly trying to get an Indian passport for a Bangladeshi national using fake documents created in the name of an Indian citizen who had passed away.

The two accused, Burhan Uddin and Faizur Rahman, are residents of Sribhumi district bordering Bangladesh.

The authorities detected the fraud during verification of passports, an exercise that is going on, and began a larger investigation into it.

The two men applied for the Indian passport in the name of Farooq Ahmed, an Indian citizen who died many years ago. The fake papers used to insert the Bangladeshi citizen as an Indian also bore the same name, the police said.

During verification, the police found that all the documents such as voter identity card, birth certificate, Aadhaar, and permanent account number (PAN) had been generated in Farooq Ahmed's name.

Police sources said the two accused had already obtained Aadhaar and voter identity cards using the fake documents. It was only during the passport verification stage that their luck ran out.

The police have seized several forged documents, electronic devices and computers from them. The two may have created more fake IDs for Bangladeshi nationals in the past, police sources said, adding they will be interrogated.

Whether this was a small operation or part of a larger cross-border network is under investigation, a senior police officer said.

The Assam Police are looking for the Bangladeshi man for whom the two accused tried to get the Indian passport.

"We are investigating how many Bangladeshis have disguised themselves as Indian citizens using fake documents in this chain, and whether any other individual or groups are involved in this racket," Additional Superintendent of Police Pranab Jyoti Kalita told reporters.

The Assam government has also cracked down on encroachers on government lands. Concerned over the influx of illegal migrants, neighbouring Manipur, Meghalaya and Nagaland have intensified checks at the interstate borders.