HARIDWAR: Uttarakhand police have arrested a Bangladeshi woman and her Indian partner for allegedly residing in the country illegally using forged credentials.
The arrest, made during a routine verification drive, has exposed a sophisticated racket involved in manufacturing fraudulent Indian identity documents.
The accused woman, whose identity has not been disclosed pending further investigation, was apprehended in the Jwalapur area near Vaishnavi Enclave on Wednesday.
Following her detention, police also arrested her partner, Shyamdas, a resident of Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, who reportedly facilitated the forgery.
According to police, a search of the premises led to the seizure of the woman’s original Bangladeshi passport and national identity card, alongside a cache of counterfeit Indian documents, including an Aadhaar card, PAN card, driving license, an Indian passport, and a marriage certificate.
Haridwar Senior Superintendent of Police Navneet Singh Bhullar confirmed the details of the operation. "This action was executed by a joint team of Jwalapur police and the Local Intelligence Unit (LIU) under the ongoing 'Operation Prahar.' We are conducting a thorough investigation into how these documents were procured and whether others were involved in the forgery network," Bhullar told TNIE.
Investigations suggest the couple’s relationship began on social media. Over time, their online interaction blossomed into a relationship, prompting the woman to visit India and return to Bangladesh multiple times.
Reports indicate that she used a forged passport to facilitate her cross-border travel while remaining in constant contact with Shyamdas.
Driven by a desire to settle down, the woman eventually returned to India to marry Shyamdas. The couple initially resided in Delhi before moving to Haridwar approximately one year ago.
During their time in the city, Shyamdas allegedly leveraged local contacts to secure the fraudulent documents that allowed the woman to pose as an Indian citizen.
However, their charade collapsed during an intense verification campaign launched by the Haridwar police to crack down on illegal residents.
Both individuals have been booked under stringent sections of the law, and authorities are currently interrogating them to determine if this was part of a larger, organised network operating in the region.
Police are now focusing on tracing the origin of the forged documents, as the case raises significant national security concerns regarding border security and the ease with which fraudulent identities are currently being manufactured.