CHENNAI: In what could be a major breakthrough, Central Crime Branch (CCB) has stumbled upon a major racket wherein Bangladeshi nationals being brought to India through Nepal and from there to Chennai under fake passports and Aadhaar cards.
Police said the CCB busted the fake passport and Aadhaar card racket in the city with the arrest of four Bangladeshi nationals.
CISF personnel at Chennai airport secured Zia-ul-Haq (19), who came to board a Dubai-bound flight, on suspicion and investigation revealed that he was a Bangladeshi national. He was handed over to the passport wing of CCB on Friday afternoon.
Based on the information from Zia-ul-Haq, sleuths with the help of Thoraipakkam police raided a house at Thoraipakkam where three other men were allegedly making fake passports and Aadhaar cards. They were identified as Ras Al Hussain, Sadiq Hussain and Jahangir Hussain. All four were natives of Bangladesh, officials said.
“They had reached Chennai to board flights separately to Dubai, but their plan was foiled. The men helped Bangladeshi nationals to enter India through Nepal. They prepared Aadhaar cards as if they were natives of Bihar and Odisha and then travelled to Chennai for work,” police said.
“Preliminary investigation showed the gang used to bring in at least 10 Bangladeshi nationals from Chennai to Dubai with fake passports,” the sleuths said. Police said they are investigating on why the gang chose Chennai airport for its operation.
“While nabbing of the four Bangladeshi men was just a tip of the iceberg, we are enquiring if they were sending men to find work in the Gulf countries or exchanging them as cheap labour. We are looking into the aspect of sending manpower to terrorist groups.”
The men were remanded to judicial custody.