Bangladeshi found carrying Indian passport

A 27-year-old Bangladeshi national was arrested after he was caught trying to fly out of Kempegowda International Airport to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on an Indian passport that had allegedly been procured using fake documents. He was apprehended by immigration officials in March, but a case was registered with the police on Thursday.

According to the police, the accused, Mohammed Riyadh, had illegally migrated to Bengal five years ago. He then allegedly procured a fake birth certificate and proof of address. “Riyadh later moved to Borivli in Mumbai from where he obtained a passport with the fake documents and a work visa for the UAE,” said the police.

He flew from Mumbai to Bengaluru from where he was scheduled to take a connecting flight to Abu Dhabi. He submitted his documents for immigration clearance. However, immigration officials had received a look-out circular from the Foreigners Regional Registration Office and detained him for questioning. His birth certificate and other identification documents were sent for verification.

“The Bureau of Immigration officials, who are handling the case, recently got confirmation from the authorities in Bengal that the documents were fake,” said the airport police.

Based on inputs from his counterparts in Bengal, Mahipal Sherawat, Officer with the Bureau of Immigration, filed a case with the airport police on Thursday.

The police have taken Riyadh into custody and have booked him for cheating, forgery and other sections of the Passport Act, 1967.