Mumbai: A 36-year-old Bangladeshi woman, who had illegally entered India at the age of nine and settled in Mumbai with her aunt, has been arrested by the Wadala TT Police for allegedly forging Indian identity documents with the help of a local broker and a clerk from the Mumbai Municipal Corporation.
The accused, identified as Shahnara Afsari Sheikh, was found to be living in Wadala with falsified Indian documents. The case came to light during a patrol by the Anti-Terrorism Squad of the Wadala TT Police Station at around 9:30 PM on May 1, when the police noticed Shahnara acting suspiciously on Antop Hill Saltpan Road. The team intercepted and questioned her.
Initially, she gave vague answers and claimed to reside on Barkat Ali Dargah Road, working as a vegetable vendor. However, after detailed questioning, she confessed that she was a Bangladeshi national. Shahnara, originally from Mudoli in Jashore district, Bangladesh, had entered India with her aunt as a child. She later married a man named Afsar Sheikh, who passed away in 2020. She now lives with her two children in Korba Mithagar and continues to sell vegetables to earn a living.
During the investigation, police discovered that Shahnara had first acquired an Aadhaar card and PAN card. She then, with the help of local broker Shebaz Rakhangi, visited the BMC's E-ward office and obtained a fraudulent Indian birth certificate. This was made possible with the assistance of Anil Shinde, a clerk in the Birth and Death Registration Department.
Using this fake birth certificate, Shahnara procured Indian passports for both her children. The investigation further revealed that she had travelled between India and Bangladesh on these documents.
A case has been registered under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Foreigners Order of 1948, and the Passport Act against Shahnara, broker Rakhangi, and clerk Shinde. The investigation is ongoing.
