Pune Passport Office Revokes 42 Illegally Obtained Indian Passports From Bangladeshi Nationals
Pune Passport Office Revokes 42 Illegally Obtained Indian Passports From Bangladeshi Nationals
The Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Shivaji Pawar announced that 42 Indian passports, fraudulently obtained by Bangladeshi infiltrators, have been revoked. The discovery emerged during the investigation of five Bangladeshi nationals arrested in the Nigdi area in January this year.
The investigation revealed that Rocky alias Debit Roy, along with Jiku Das alias Joy Chowdhary, also a Bangladeshi living illegally in Pune and Goa, and a local agent, Sainath Yeilwad from Chandan Nagar, Pune, assisted multiple Bangladeshi nationals in obtaining Indian passports using forged documents. Based on information from the Pimpri Chinchwad police, the Regional Passport Office in Pune revoked the 42 passports on July 2.
The arrested individuals, identified as Rocky Barua alias Debit Roy (31), Amiron Barua (28), Ankur Barua (28), Ratul Barua (28), and Rana Barua (25), all natives of Chittagong, Bangladesh, had entered India illegally and were residing in Sainath Nagar, Nigdi. They intended to use the fraudulently obtained passports to travel abroad for work.
Assistant Police Inspector A.S. Deshmukh, the investigating officer, found that three of the seized passports had been issued from Goa. Suyog Arun Lande (31) of the anti-terrorist cell of Pimpri Chinchwad police filed the FIR at Nigdi police station under sections of the Foreigners Act and the Passport Act.
The investigation further revealed that Rocky, with the help of Jiku and Sainath, who are still at large, facilitated the procurement of Indian passports for several Bangladeshi nationals who entered India through the West Bengal border without proper authorization. The infiltrators initially obtained Aadhaar cards and PAN cards, which they used to acquire Indian passports with the assistance of agents in Pune and Goa.
DCP Sandeep Doifode from the special branch of Pimpri Chinchwad police informed the passport office about the 42 passports acquired by Bangladeshi nationals. Following this, the Passport Office conducted a verification process and revoked all 42 passports on July 2, as per the orders issued.
In a related case, Sainath, who is still absconding, was also implicated in a similar racket investigated by Borivali police station in Mumbai. A Borivali police team had arrested 20 Bangladeshi migrants and two Indians involved in creating fake passports, Aadhaar cards, PAN cards, and other documents for infiltrators. All 20 Bangladeshi nationals were found guilty and convicted by a Mumbai court in May this year.
