5 Bangladeshis arrested in Uttar Pradesh for ‘forging IDs’

Indian police arrested five Bangladeshi nationals in Kanpur city of Uttar Pradesh state yesterday on charge of forging documents of their identity.

Those arrested were identified as Rizwan Mohammad, 53, his wife Hina Khalida and the couple's two children and Rizwan's father Khalid Majid, 79.

They were arrested from posh Meston locality of Kanpur city for having fake Indian and Bangladeshi passports, Aadhar cards and other documents and for staying there illegally, police said.

Police seized 13 fake Indian and Bangladeshi passports, five Aadhar cards, educational qualification certificates, US$ 1,000, gold ornaments and 14.56 lakhs Indian Rupees, our New Delhi correspondent reports.

Police claimed they have seized two letters from the arrestees which purportedly showed that jailed opposition Samajwadi Party legislator Irfan Solanki and local corporator Manny Rahman had issued certificates to Rizwan, who originally hails from Khulna in Bangladesh and claimed that they were "Indians."

"We will match the signatures of Solanki and Rahman with those on the certificates issued to the family to see if the legislator and corporator are culpable," said Joint Commissioner of Police (law and order) of Kanpur Anand Prakash Tiwari.

Rizwan, according to the police, said he came to India in 1996 on a tourist visa and solemnised his marriage with Hina Khalid in 1998 in Delhi, Tiwari said.

Hina had also gone to Bangladesh by trespassing and obtained a Bangladeshi passport before returning to India, he added.

The couple's children had also gone to Bangladesh illegally and obtained passports there.

They were booked under Indian Penal Code and the Foreigners Act.

Irfan Sonanki is a legislator from Sismau constituency of Uttar Pradesh. He had contested as a candidate of the state's main opposition Sawmajwadi Party.

He was arrested in connection with an arson case.