BENGALURU: A 35-year-old Bangladeshi national was arrested by the Central Crime Branch (CCB) on charges of overstaying in the city for about nine years, and availing of identity proofs like Aadhaar card as an Indian national. He had come to the city as a law student in 2003 and his student visa expired in 2010. He is now employed at a senior level with taxi aggregator Ola, police said.
Based on a tip-off, CCB sleuths raided the house of Anik Mohammed Iktear Uddin in Kodandarama Layout on Osborne Road, Bharathinagar, on Tuesday. During interrogation, Anik revealed that he was from Kishoreganj in Bangladesh and had come to the city in 2003 to study law at Vivekananda College of Law in Rajajinagar, police said.
Later, he completed post graduation in law from the University Law College. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) S Girish said, “Anik managed to get an Aadhaar card, voter ID and also an Indian passport. When we caught him, he was working at a top position in Ola. We have handed over the case for further investigation to Bharathinagar police.”
Investigating officers said Anik was identified as a Bangladeshi national by one of their informants, following which they started monitoring him. Anik faces charges under the Foreigners Act, Passport Act as well as sections of the Indian Penal Code dealing with forgery, and using a forged document as genuine, besides overstaying after his visa expired. Police have initiated a drive to track down Bangladeshis staying illegally, acting on an MHA directive.
When his student visa expired in 2010, he did not extend it but started working in Bengaluru, police said. He eventually befriended and married a woman from West Bengal who was also working in the city. “He could have legally extended his stay in India, we don’t know why he instead chose to illegally obtain Indian identity documents,” an investigating officer said.
“We have seized his visa and passport issued by Bangladesh. We also found an Aadhaar card and voter ID, and he confessed to using his bank account passbook to avail of these two cards. Using his voter ID, he managed to get an Indian passport,” the officer added. The police will now try to find out the identity of the officers who helped him obtain the Voter ID and Aadhaar card, and also a passport, without proper verification of the forged documents.