What Information is ED Seeking from MEA Regarding Visa Granted to Pakistani Citizen Arrested in Kolkata?

Synopsis
The Enforcement Directorate is probing the visa granted to a Pakistani infiltrator arrested in Kolkata. Details about his fraudulent activities and potential terror links are under investigation, raising critical security concerns.
Key Takeaways
- ED investigates visa documentation of a Pakistani infiltrator.
- Fake identity documents were created by the individual.
- Potential links to terror funding are being examined.
- Sensitive information from WhatsApp chats was recovered.
- Authorities seized multiple fake documents during the arrest.
Kolkata, June 3 (NationPress) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has requested details from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) concerning the visa issued to Azad Mullick, a Pakistani infiltrator apprehended in Kolkata by ED officials earlier this year due to his involvement in fake passport and hawala operations.
Azad, originally a citizen of Pakistan, initially procured Bangladeshi citizenship through forged documents, subsequently entering India on a valid visa.
Upon arriving in India, he quickly began to fabricate Indian identity documents, including an Indian passport, using fraudulent means. He even initiated a fake passport and hawala enterprise from his rented residence in the northern outskirts of Kolkata.
Sources indicate that the ED is pursuing information from the MEA regarding the documentation presented by Azad, as a Bangladeshi citizen, while applying for his Indian visa.
Additionally, the ED has requested the details of the MEA personnel who scrutinized Azad's visa application during that period.
Azad's original name as a Pakistani national was Azad Hossain, which he altered to Ahammed Hossain Azad after illegally acquiring Bangladeshi citizenship.
Ultimately, in the fraudulent Indian passport, his name appeared as Azad Mullick. At the time of his arrest, authorities confiscated two fake EPIC cards, numerous fake driving licenses, and four counterfeit birth certificates from him.
The investigating officers are currently examining Azad's potential connections with various terror groups.
Recently, the ED informed a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Kolkata about the recovery of sensitive information from individual and group chats on WhatsApp from Azad's mobile devices.
This information has provided investigators with a clearer understanding of the individuals in neighboring Bangladesh who were recipients of funds routed through hawala from Kolkata.
Given the suspicious nature of the communications in certain groups, ED officials are now probing whether the money sent through hawala to Bangladesh was utilized for terror funding.