LUCKNOW: A Bangladeshi national who visited the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) in Lucknow for visa registration was arrested after officials allegedly discovered that he had fraudulently obtained Indian identity documents , including an Aadhaar card, voter identity card, PAN card and a domicile certificate, with the help of a local agent.




Police have registered an FIR against both the foreign national and the alleged facilitator.




According to the FIR lodged at Bazarkhala police station, the accused has been identified as Mohammed Sazzad Hossain (28), a resident of Chattogram, Bangladesh. The second accused is Mohammed Talha, a resident of Mewata locality in Lucknow, who allegedly prepared forged documents and facilitated their use.




The FIR states that police, acting on information received through an informer on Friday night, intercepted Hossain near the Railway Colony ground in the Gulzar Nagar area.




During questioning, he allegedly admitted to being a Bangladeshi citizen and produced two Bangladeshi passports, one of them bearing a valid visa. Police also recovered an Aadhaar card, PAN card and Election Commission voter ID card issued in the name of Mohammed Sazzad Hossain with a Lucknow address.




During interrogation, Hossain allegedly told police that he first came to India in Aug 2023 on a tourist visa and stayed with relatives in Lucknow.




He claimed that after deciding to remain in India, he approached Talha, who operated a Jan Seva Kendra, for Indian identity documents. Talha allegedly prepared forged residence and birth certificates and used them to obtain Aadhaar, PAN and voter ID cards.




The accused further told police that he transferred Rs 900 twice through UPI and also paid Rs 2,000 in cash for the documents. He allegedly used the forged documents to open a bank account in Lucknow.




Police later detained Talha, who allegedly admitted to preparing the forged documents. Sleuths recovered printed residence and birth certificates, electronic devices and other materials believed to have been used in creating the fake documents. The FIR notes that the domicile certificate carried an issue date that predated Hossain's arrival in India, which investigators cited as evidence of forgery.




An FIR has been registered under Sections 318(4), 336(2), 338, 336(3) and 340(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, and relevant provisions of the Foreigners Act, 1946.