CHENNAI: Three Pakistanis with fake Indian passports and Aadhaar cards were arrested by immigration officials when they landed from Dhaka at the Chennai international airport on Friday night, sources said. A resident of Karnataka, who is part of their group, was also arrested. Though a detailed probe is under way, a top source ruled out any terror angle at this stage, adding that they might have gone to Bangladesh to attend a religious conference.
Sources said that the group landed in Chennai around 9.30pm on Friday. Their given names as per their passports were Altab Ahmad (41), Nisha (31), Karthik (35), and Neha (31).
However, immigration officials at the airport felt something amiss and detained them for investigation. It was found that Nisha, Karthik, and Neha were Pakistani nationals who obtained forged Indian passports with fake names.
Sources said that the trio had migrated to Bangladesh before travelling to India. In 2020, they met Altab Ahmad in Bengaluru as part of a religious group, who promised to help in obtaining fake documents. Using these papers, which included fake Aadhaar, they were able to obtain passports which were used to travel to Bangladesh, sources said.
During preliminary investigation, it was also found that they had travelled to other Indian cities like New Delhi and Kanpur.
According to sources, the Pakistanis hail from Lahore and were identified as Sufis, who are followers of spiritual leader Gohar Shahi. This community has followers in Kashmir as well. Altaf is a native of Davanagere, sources added. After sustained interrogation by immigration officials, the four were handed over to the Central Crime Branch (CCB) of Greater Chennai Police which has a Forgery Investigation Wing (FIW). A case under the Passports Act and forgery has been registered.
Police said they are investigating further to know why the group came to Chennai.