NIA Court Sentences Three Bangladeshi Nationals for Illegal Entry and Forged Documents
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New Delhi, Dec 11 (NationPress) The National Investigation Agency (NIA) Special Court located in Mumbai has handed down a five-year prison term to three Bangladeshi individuals for unauthorized entry into India and for having forged documents, as stated by the investigation agency on Wednesday.
The individuals convicted include Mohammed Habibur Rehman Habib alias Raj Jesub Mandal, Hannan Anwar Hussain Khan alias Hannan Baburali Gazi, and Mohd Azarali Subhanallah alias Raja Jesub Mandal, who have been fined Rs 2,000 each.
The NIA's statement detailed that the case began in March 2018, following an FIR lodged by the Pune Police. It was claimed that multiple Bangladeshi nationals were residing in Pune without proper documentation and were providing assistance to members of the Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), which is a front for the banned terrorist organization Al-Qaida.
Subsequently, the NIA took charge of the investigation and submitted a charge sheet on September 7, 2018, against the three accused along with two others — Md Ripen Hossain alias Rubel and Md Hassnali Amirali — under pertinent sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Foreigners Act.
Earlier, Md Ripen Hossain and Mohammad Hassan Ali Amirali were found guilty in October 2023 after confessing to their crimes and were similarly sentenced to five years in prison.
The NIA's report indicated that the five were employed as laborers across different construction sites in Pune without any legitimate documentation.
The recent convictions of Mohammed Habibur Rehman Habib, Hannan Anwar Hussain Khan, and Md Azarali Subhanallah were based on violations of section 14 of the Foreigners Act (overstaying in India without valid documentation), section 471 of the IPC (using forged documents as genuine), and section 120-B of the IPC (conspiracy related to document forgery).
The case was initially overseen by the ATS before the NIA assumed responsibility in September 2018. The accused fraudulently acquired PAN cards, Aadhaar cards, voter IDs, ration cards, among others by submitting fake documents, the agency noted.
