BENGALURU: A software engineer who lost his job during the nationwide lockdown imposed due to Covid-19 pandemic, a pharmacist and a businessman are part of a nine-member gang arrested by the police on charges of issuing fake Aadhaar cards and other government documents to illegal immigrants from Bangladesh residing in the city. The accused include three Bangladeshi migrants.
Around 92 Aadhaar enrolment forms with seals of BBMP health officers, 31 Aadhaar cards, 28 voter IDs, 26 fake letter-heads, 16 mobile phones, 13 PAN cards, five seals of BBMP health officers, two laptops, two printers, ATM cards and other documents have been seized from the accused.
The fraudulent activities came to light after the Madhanayakanahalli police of the Bengaluru Rural district arrested a Bangladeshi national identified as Sheikh Ismail Kitab Ali in connection with a `18 lakh theft from an ATM kiosk at Chikkagollarahatti on April 15, this year.
Palike fake seal, letterhead used
Ali named another illegal immigrant, Syed Akoon alias Shahid Ahmed, as the main accused, who was also running a scrap factory in the city. Akoon had illegally entered India through Tripura. With agents’ help, he had managed to convert Indian rupees into taka from his bank accounts. Akoon’s grilling led to the arrest of eight others involved in the racket.
The main accused is said to have converted Rs 4 crore to takas in the last one year. He was operating through three bank accounts and money was being transferred to the agents’ accounts in Kolkata, Punjab and Chennai. The police are in the process of freezing nearly 13 bank accounts.The gang, using BBMP’s letter-head with fake seals and signatures of BBMP health officers, claims to have obtained Aadhaar cards by submitting it at a Bengaluru One centre. Akoon’s confession led to the arrest of Mohammed Abdul Aleem, from Dhaka.
The other eight arrested are Mohammed Abdul Aleem, Suhail Ahmed, Mohammed Idayath, Syed Mansoor, Ayesha alias Rabiya, Mohammed Ameen Sait, Rakesh and Isthiyak Pasha alias Medical Pasha. “Of the accused, Rakesh is a software engineer who had lost his job. He was creating fake letters of gazetted officers. Pasha, a pharmacist working as a temporary employee in a BBMP hospital, claims to have created fake negative Covid, vaccination reports and seals of government officers to get the documents,” said a police officer.
ARAGA LAUDS POLICE TEAM
State Home Minister Araga Jnanendra has lauded the efforts of the Bengaluru Rural police and said that the issue of illegal immigrants has been taken seriously. “Police officers have been directed to initiate action against illegal immigrants. This racket has been busted within a few days of the arrest of a terrorist from Jammu and Kashmir in Bengaluru,” he said.