Gujarat ATS Cracks Down on Forgery Ring Assisting Illegal Immigrants

The Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) has scored a major breakthrough by arresting two individuals involved in aiding illegal Bangladeshi immigrants to secure Indian passports using fake documents. Among those arrested is Bangladeshi national Mohammad Didarul Alam, who entered the country illegally and received an Indian passport through fraudulent means.

The operation exposed a wider network after a raid on Alam's shop implicated another accomplice, Shoeb Qureshi, who ran a local enterprise facilitating document forgery. Arrests were made following the discovery of counterfeit birth certificates, Aadhaar, and PAN cards, highlighting the extent of identity forgery prevalent in the region.

The investigation also revealed that the network enabled 17 Bangladeshi nationals to obtain Indian passports. Meanwhile, applications for nine others are currently pending. The case has put a spotlight on the vulnerabilities within the identification document issuance system that illegal entities exploit.

(With inputs from agencies.)