Seventh Individual Arrested in West Bengal Passport Fraud Scheme Aiding Illegal Bangladeshi Nationals
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Kolkata, Dec 29 (NationPress) The Kolkata Police have detained a man on Sunday as part of an investigation into a scheme based in West Bengal that was involved in producing fraudulent Indian identity documents, such as passports, for illegal Bangladeshi immigrants entering India through the state's porous borders.
This marks the seventh apprehension in the ongoing case. The arrested individual has been named Manoj Gupta, who was taken into custody from his rented residence in the Chandpara region under the jurisdiction of the Gaighata Police Station in the North 24 Parganas district.
Gupta is slated to appear in a Kolkata court on Sunday, where the public prosecutor is expected to request his police custody.
According to sources within the city police, Gupta had affiliations with a fraudulent travel agency operating in Behala, located in the southern suburbs of Kolkata, which was primarily involved in a scheme for providing fake Indian identities to illegal Bangladeshi entrants.
As noted by police insiders, Gupta's primary function was to serve as a mediator between the operators of the fake travel agency and the illegal Bangladeshi nationals willing to pay substantial sums to obtain counterfeit Indian identity documents.
Investigators have reported that several incriminating materials related to the production of false Indian documents were confiscated from a hard drive located at Gupta's home.
Notably, Dipankar Das, who was previously apprehended by the city police in this matter, also had ties to the same travel agency based in Behala.
Since December 15, the West Bengal Police have detained a total of seven individuals in relation to this passport fraud scheme.
Investigative authorities have discerned a consistent pattern in the operations of such schemes that cater to illegal Bangladeshi immigrants seeking counterfeit Indian passports. Once an infiltrator illegally enters Indian territory, they contact local agents and express their willingness to pay significant amounts for counterfeit identity documents. Initially, these individuals are provided with safe housing in various villages near the borders with Bangladesh, both on land and coastal areas.
Subsequently, the agents arrange fake ration cards for them, serving as the initial step in the creation of additional identity documents. Utilizing these fake ration cards, other identification documents such as EPIC, PAN, and Aadhaar cards are acquired. The final step involves obtaining fake passports based on these additional counterfeit identity documents.
