Synopsis
The West Bengal Police arrested Tridib Mondal, the mastermind behind a counterfeit passport operation for Bangladeshi infiltrators. He played a significant role in fabricating various identity documents, aiding illegal immigration efforts.Key Takeaways
- Tridib Mondal arrested in Kolkata.
- Mastermind behind fake passport racket.
- Facilitated illegal Bangladeshi immigration.
- Involved in creating forged identity documents.
- Operated a network of agents near the Bangladesh border.
Kolkata, March 13 (NationPress) The West Bengal Police apprehended the mastermind behind a syndicate that facilitated the creation of fraudulent Indian passports for Bangladeshi infiltrators on Thursday.
The individual arrested has been identified as Tridib Mondal, residing in the Baguihati locality located in the northern outskirts of Kolkata. Law enforcement officials plan to present him in a lower court later today, with the public prosecutor expected to request his police custody.
Sources within the state police revealed that they had been diligently tracking Mondal for an extended period after learning of his involvement through the interrogation of three other suspects who were detained by the investigating team in January from Chandernagore in the Hooghly district.
Upon receiving precise information about Mondal's arrival at Sealdah station in central Kolkata that morning, officers from the Bhadreswar Police Station, operating under the Chandernagore Police Commissionerate, discreetly awaited his arrival.
Mondal was apprehended once the officers confirmed his identity. He is being transported to Chinsurah, the Hooghly district headquarters, where he will be presented in a lower court later today, as confirmed by a police official.
The main accusation against Mondal is his significant role in digitally fabricating various forged Indian documents, including Aadhaar cards, EPIC cards, PAN cards, ration cards, and birth certificates, which were essential for procuring fraudulent Indian passports for illegal Bangladeshi immigrants.
Preliminary investigations have uncovered that Mondal operated as the technical mastermind of a network comprising agents across several West Bengal villages near the international border with Bangladesh, with the primary objective of connecting illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators with the heads of the racket.
The investigation into the counterfeit Indian identity document operations has revealed a distinct pattern in how these rackets function within this criminal network.
Any infiltrator crossing into Indian territory illegally contacts local agents and, upon expressing willingness to pay substantial sums for fake Indian identity documents, is initially provided shelter in a village adjacent to the Bangladesh border, whether by land or sea. Subsequently, the agents secure a fake ration card for the infiltrator, serving as the first step in obtaining other identity documents.
With the fake ration cards in hand, other identification documents such as EPIC, PAN, and Aadhaar cards are then procured. The final step involves acquiring fraudulent passports based on these counterfeit identity documents.
