The Kanpur police have detained five members of a Bangladeshi family, including a juvenile, for allegedly carrying fake identity documents, the police said.
The family members include a couple, their children and the woman’s father.
The police added they were detained for having fake Indian passports, Bangladeshi passports, Aadhar cards and other documents and staying in Kanpur illegally. They were arrested from Meston Road.
According to police, the jailed Samajwadi Party MLA Irfan Solanki and local corporator Manny Rahman had issued certificates to Rizwan, who was originally a resident of Khulna in Bangladesh, and his family members.
Joint Commissioner of Police (law and order), Anand Prakash Tiwari said that the signatures of Solanki and Rahman will be matched with those on the certificates issued to the family to see if they are guilty of fraud.
The police also seized 13 fake passports, five Aadhar cards, education certificates, foreign currency, gold ornaments and more than Rs 14 lakh.
Those arrested and detained were identified as Rizwan Mohammad, 53, his father Khalid Majid, 79, his wife Hina Khalid and their two children.
The police said Rizwan initially tried to mislead them, but later confessed the crime during questioning.
Rizwan told police he came to India in 1996 on a tourist visa and solemnised his marriage to Hina Khalid in 1998 in Delhi.
He added that Hina had also gone to Bangladesh by trespassing and obtained a Bangladeshi passport before returning to India.
Their children Rukhsar Rizwan, 21, and his 17-year-old son had also gone to Bangladesh illegally and obtained passports there.
They have been booked under the Indian Penal Code and the 14-Foreigners Act of 1946. A detailed investigation into the matter is underway.
(The story has been published via a syndicated feed with a modified headline.)
Update
As per a press release by Kanpur Police, the accused have also travelled multiple times to Pakistan, Malaysia and Nepal. This raises the possibility of them being involved in spying for a foreign country as well.
