KOLKATA: Activities of Bangladeshi model and actress Shanta Pal, who has been arrested in Kolkata, are reminiscent of the activities of Jyoti Malhotra, who was arrested on suspicion of being a Pakistani spy, police sources said.
Shanta lived a luxurious life as Jyoti. She too travelled to many places in India, including the Nathula Pass, near the China border in Sikkim which raised suspicion about her, a Kolkata Police official said.
"Jyoti Malhotra is accused of spying for Pakistan. Is Shanta doing the same for Bangladesh? We have been trying to ascertain this in the investigation," the official added.
According to police sources, Shanta Pal, a Bangladeshi citizen, came to India in 2023. Since then, she has been staying here. Both her visa and passport have expired.
According to police sources, after questioning Shanta and searching her social media pages, it was found that she had become a consultant for others to obtain visas to India. After the upheaval in Bangladesh last year, when the situation between India and Bangladesh made it difficult for Bangladeshi citizens to get Indian tourist visas, Shanta had advised many of them to apply for medical visas. The investigators are checking how many people took her help to get Indian medical visas.
Shanta, who has been residing in India, also used to live a colourful life. According to police sources, the Bangladeshi model-actress travelled from Digha in West Bengal to Gangtok in Sikkim and posted pictures and videos on social media. She even reached the Nathula Pass near the China border to create a travel vlog.
According to police sources, Shanta was promoting her tourism business through a social media page called ‘Asan Travels Kolkata and Bangladesh’. Additionally, investigators are also investigating if she took a loan from an Indian state-owned bank to open a hotel, based on her Facebook post.
On Wednesday, the Kolkata Police arrested Shanta in a fraud case from the Bikramgarh area in south Kolkata. She lived there in a rented flat with her parents and husband.
The police recovered an Indian voter card, PAN card, and Aadhaar cards of two addresses, one in Kolkata and the other in Burdwan, issued in her name. The police have also recovered a Bangladeshi passport and Bangladesh Airways employee card from her possession. She used to work as a cabin crew for Bangladesh Airways. An admit card for Bangladesh's secondary examination has also been found.
