Just Rs 25,000 for foreign nationals to get Indian passport

HYDERABAD: IF you are a foreign national wanting to get an Indian passport, or a registered rental agreement though you may not live here, look any further. There are agents in Hyderabad who can arrange it for a mere Rs 25,000. One such agent, who arranged Indian passports for Bangladesh nationals and Myanmar refugees, was caught by the Balapur police on Monday.

With the help of his assistant Mohammed Aqeel, city-based Syed Nayeem has allegedly helped the ‘needy’ with false documents to apply for passports. Using fake rental agreements, they created genuine identity documentation for their clients, like Pan Cards, Aadhaar Cards and eventually also a genuine Indian passport.

The duo is said to have helped several illegal immigrants fly to Dubai and Malaysia for employment, and the cops are digging for more details on the case. Two such immigrants from Myanmar who took help from the accused Mohammed Faisal (22) and Mohammed Fayaz (21). They came to India in 2015, and Faisal was working as an Imam in a masjid near Jalpally village while Fayaz was daily wage labourer.
They  were searching for agents who could help them get an Indian passport and they came into contact with Nayeem, who back then was running a textile store.

Nayeem had visited Dubai earlier and had friends there and in Malaysia. To earn money, he had started working as a visa processing agent. He charged Rs 25,000 per person for his services and took Aqeel, who was working as a carpenter, as his assistant. Aqeel’s job was to find clients for Nayeem. “In case of Faisal and Fayaz, Nayeem prepared fake rental agreements to show they were living at Aqeel’s house. They used electricity bills generated to obtain Aadhaar cards. Then using it, they applied for Pan Cards, voter ID and even opened bank accounts,” said LB Nagar DCP M Venkateshwar Rao.

Faisal received his passport in Nov 2017, while Fayaz’s is yet to come. Based on a tip, Balapur police raided the residence of accused and apprehended them.Further investigation is on to find out about Habiba Begum and other clients of Nayeem. Balapur police have so far arrested about 33 foreign nationals while Rachakonda police have nabbed 25 Myanmar refugees and one Bangladeshi for getting Indian passports and other identification cards. “Till now, there was no special focus on the refugees and foreign nationals living in the commissionerate limits. Now, a special team called Burma-Bangla team has been formed to keep a close vigil on them,” said a cop.

Refugee camps
 

There are 22 refugee camps spread across Pahadishareef and Balapur areas where over 3,626 Rohingya refugees are taking shelter.