A 32-year-old Bangladeshi national, trying to pass himself off as a Bharatiya citizen with a valid passport, was intercepted by immigration officials at Coimbatore International Airport in Tamil Nadu on Monday, January 23 and arrested a day later.
According to the police, Anwar Hussain (32) of Mymensingh district in Bangladesh arrived in Coimbatore via an Air Arabia flight on Monday. During the immigration check, when Hussain produced his documents, the authorities noticed that his passport and Aadhaar card had a Kolkata address. The officials grew suspicious as to why the former landed in Coimbatore and questioned him.
When Hussain continued to give contradictory answers, the suspicious immigration officials asked him to sing the national anthem, which he failed to do. The immigration officials immediately took him under custody and later handed him over to the Peelamedu police, who booked a case under relevant sections of the Foreigners Act and Passport Act.
Hussain has admitted that he is a Bangladeshi national, however, it’s not clear how he first entered Bharat. He had worked as a tailor in Tamil Nadu’s Tirupur district till November 2020. During this time, he visited Bengaluru and obtained an Aadhaar card by submitting a forged birth certificate.
As per the police officials, in December 2020, Hussain somehow secured the Bhartiya passport from Kolkata by submitting forged Aadhaar card and other documents. He then left for the UAE to worked as a tailor. He was returning to Bharat with plans to permanently settle in Tamilnadu.
Hussain has been sent to prison after being produced before a magistrate. A case has been registered under Section 14 C of the Foreigners Act and Section 12 (1A) (a) of the Passport Act. It is heartening to know that such cases are mushrooming all over India, and such personnel could become a threat to our national security. This is the reason why NRC is needed without any further delay.
