A Bangladeshi national who had allegedly been working for nearly a year inside the highly secure Indian Naval Academy (INA) at Ezhimala, Kannur, was arrested on 19 September 2026 by police and intelligence agencies after being detected using forged Indian identity documents. The case has raised serious questions about security verification protocols at one of India's most strategic military establishments.

Who Was Arrested and How

The accused, identified as Soren, 32, was taken into custody from the academy premises following confidential inputs received by the Intelligence Bureau (IB). According to preliminary investigation, Soren had allegedly used a fake Aadhaar card — showing him as an Indian citizen — and a forged Police Clearance Certificate (PCC) purportedly issued by police in West Bengal to secure employment in the Naval Academy's laundry section.

Police and intelligence officials are questioning Soren to establish how a foreign national managed to enter, obtain employment, and remain undetected inside the sensitive installation for approximately 12 months.

The Security Breach at INA Ezhimala

The Indian Naval Academy at Ezhimala is among the country's most strategically important defence training establishments. That a foreign national could allegedly gain access to its premises through falsified documents — and sustain that access for nearly a year — underscores what investigators are calling a potential lapse in background and identity verification by the contractor or agency that engaged him.

Police are now examining the role of the contracting agency, including whether proper verification was carried out before Soren was allowed to work inside the campus. The circumstances under which he initially secured the position remain under investigation.

Wider Crackdown in Kannur

The arrest at Ezhimala comes amid a broader police crackdown in Kannur district following the detection of multiple Bangladeshi nationals allegedly residing in the area on forged Indian documents. In the days preceding this arrest, four Bangladeshi women were detained after police raided a rented residence at Odenparambu. The women were reportedly employed at a spa in Kannur city.

Investigators recovered Bangladeshi identity cards along with suspected fake Indian identity documents from the women. During interrogation, they allegedly told police that the forged documents had been obtained from Assam before they travelled to Kerala in search of work.

Organised Network Under Probe

With the Ezhimala arrest, police are now investigating whether an organised network is operating to bring Bangladeshi nationals into Kerala, furnish them with forged documents, and arrange employment — including, apparently, at sensitive government and defence facilities. Investigators say the focus will extend to whether there were systemic lapses in the vetting processes followed by agencies that supply contractual workers to establishments like the Naval Academy.

This is reportedly not an isolated incident: the pattern of document forgery traced through West Bengal and Assam suggests a supply chain that law enforcement agencies are now attempting to map. Further arrests in the network are considered possible as the investigation widens.