ED arrests Pak national’s aide in fake passport racket

The Enforcement Directorate has arrested a man from West Bengal’s Nadia district, for his alleged role in helping a Pakistani citizen, who was living illegally in India, secure Indian identity documents, and passports for Bangladeshi nationals, a senior officer said here on Saturday.

The accused, identified as Indubhushan Haldar (alias Dullal), arrested on October 13, is a key aide of Azad Hussain, a Pakistan national living in India under a false identity.

According to the officials, the case is linked to the Pakistan national Azad Hussain (alias Ajad Mallik, alias Ahammed Hossain Azad), who was arrested earlier this year on June.

“Hussain ran a network that fraudulently obtained Indian identity documents and passports for illegal immigrants from Bangladesh in exchange for money. During the probe, investigators found that Haldar was a key associate who prepared forged documents for the applicants and facilitated the issuance of passports through illicit means,” the official said.

Haldar’s involvement has been established in around 250 such cases, where Bangladeshi nationals managed to get Indian passports using forged papers. “He generated substantial proceeds of crime from these illegal activities in collusion with Hussain,” the ED officials added.

The agency has already filed a chargesheet against Hussain before the City Sessions Court in Kolkata, which took cognisance of the charges in June. Officials said the racket had cross-border dimensions and pointed to a larger network engaged in identity fraud for financial gain.

“Further investigation is underway to trace the full chain of beneficiaries and other facilitators involved in the syndicate,” the agency said.