AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad has arrested a Bangladeshi from Ahmedabad's Narol area who illegally obtained an Indian passport and created forged documents for other Bangladeshis. Investigators found that letterheads of local BJP and Congress corporators were misused to fabricate several of these documents. A swift probe is underway into the infiltration and document forgery network.
Acting on a tip-off, the Gujarat ATS arrested Bangladeshi national Rana Sarkar alias Mohammad Deedar Alam from Ahmedabad’s Narol area. Operating a mobile and money transfer shop named VIP Mobile beneath his residence, Sarkar had obtained an Indian passport using forged ID documents.
Investigations revealed Sarkar, along with Robyul Islam and Shoaib Qureshi of Alkuresh Enterprises, located opposite Maniyar Petrol Pump in Narol, was running a large-scale fake document syndicate. The trio forged Aadhaar cards, PAN cards, election IDs and even Indian passports for multiple Bangladeshi nationals.
Following the arrest, a raid on Sarkar’s shop unearthed his own fake Indian documents, a Bangladeshi ID card, labour card from the Indian government and a Bank of Baroda passbook. Crucially, fake ID proofs of 13-14 other Bangladeshi nationals were also recovered, all reportedly prepared by Qureshi on the request of Islam.
A search at Qureshi’s premises led to the seizure of 22 counterfeit documents, over 300 fake PAN cards, forged Aadhaar certificates, birth records and digital evidence from computers and laptops—all linked to illegal immigration and ID fraud.
The ATS found that several of these documents were created after using the letterheads of municipal corporators from both the BJP and Congress, exposing a dangerous breach in official channels. The names of the corporators involved are now under scrutiny, with further interrogation expected.
Sarkar illegally entered India in 2012 through a farm route, traveling via Dinhata, Siliguri, Howrah, Tamil Nadu, Bangalore and Mumbai before settling in Ahmedabad in 2015. By 2017, he had acquired an Indian passport and, in 2018, began producing fake Indian IDs from his rented shop. His associate, Shoaib Qureshi, a Rajasthan native, has been running an online documentation service since 2015.
Officials warn that passports issued through such forged documents pose severe national security threats, including risks of terrorism, espionage, illegal immigration and financial fraud. A broader ATS probe is now underway to uncover the full network behind the racket.