Rohingya NID scam: Syndicate charges Tk 1.30 lakh per head

Taking a huge amount of money, a syndicate, of some dishonest Election Commission employees and criminals, has been providing national identity cards to Rohingyas in Chattogram city.

This is the third such scam discovered in the port city.

Detective Branch of Chattogram Metropolitan Police on Tuesday arrested 10 people, including five data entry operators of the EC and two Rohingyas, in the city's Halishahar Housing Estate High School, where voter list updating work is going on, for their alleged involvement.

Police said the syndicate was taking Tk 1.30 lakh for every NID.

DB also found evidence that the syndicate also manages original birth certificates for Rohingyas so that they can easily get NID cards.

Police added that using fake addresses in Chattogram city, the birth certificates were issued from Dhaka North City Corporation and a DNCC employee was involved.

The arrestees are: Kamal Hossen, 45, Parvin Akhter, 25, Nurul Absar, 28, Shamsur Rahman alias Shamsu Master, 60, Yasin Arafat, 22, Nur Nabi Anik, 25, Mizanur Rahman, 23, Farhadul Islam, 28, Emon Das, 20, and Kamal, 42. Of them, Yasin, Nur Nabi, Mizanur, Farhadul and Emon are the temporary data entry operators of EC while Kamal and Parvin are Rohingyas.

Addressing a press conference yesterday, DB's Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Ali Hossain said the two Rohingyas were taken to the school centre for taking their photos for NID cards.

He added that but on information, police held them. Official NID forms and birth certificates were also recovered from them.

Among the arrestees, Nurul and Master Shamsu, of Cox's Bazar, are brokers who collect Rohingyas, he said.

DC Ali Hossain said, "Examining Nurul's mobile phone, we found around 500 original birth certificates. And all the 500 certificates were issued from Dhaka using fake addresses in Chattogram city.

"The syndicate can prepare a birth certificate within 10 minutes and takes Tk 1,500 per certificate. The data entry operators used to input information and photo in the NID server and later a syndicate member from Dhaka issued the NID cards."

Brokers Absar and Shamsu Master stand accused in two cases filed in connection with NID scam for Rohingyas in Cox's Bazar, said the DB official.

Investigators said Shamsu is a former headmaster of a primary school and he was fired for his involvement in Rohingya NID scam in Cox's Bazar in 2019.

Counter Terrorism Division of CMP is investigating another NID scam case where the involvement of top EC officials was unearthed and 18 people, including 10 EC staffers, have been arrested.

The DB official said they came to know that one Saddam of the Hathazari upazila EC office is involved in the syndicate and that the information was being verified.

Two cases, including a forgery case, were lodged with Halishahar Police Station yesterday.