Two Bangladeshi nationals carrying Indian passports that they had allegedly obtained fraudulently were arrested while trying to board a flight for Vietnam from the Calcutta airport on Saturday.
Both the accused had entered India with valid Bangladeshi passports on tourist visas but failed to return to their country, police said.
They were intercepted minutes before they were to board a flight for Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam on Saturday evening, the police said.
“Based on their suspicious movements, they were stopped and questioned at immigration. They admitted to having obtained Indian passports fraudulently during their stay in India. They admitted attempting to reach Vietnam while pretending to be Indians,” said an officer
of NSCBI Airport police station, where the matter was reported.
The police identified the two as Babla Barua, 33, and Chayan Barua, 26, both residents of Dhaka in Bangladesh.
“Two Bangladeshi nationals have been booked under sections of the Foreigners Act, impersonation and forgery. We have launched a detailed probe to investigate the cause of their visit and their activities here,” said an officer of Bidhannagar City Police on Sunday.
According to officers, Babla, who had obtained an Indian passport under the name Rahul Gautam Chowdhury, had mentioned his Indian address in Pune.
Chayan, whose Indian passport had been issued in the name of Suman Udittya Saha, had also mentioned Pune as his local address, said an officer.
“Both had entered India with Bangladeshi passports through the Haridaspur Land integrated check post in 2017 and 2018, respectively. They were carrying valid tourist visas at that time,” said a senior police officer.
However, soon after they entered Bengal, they managed to obtain fake identity documents that helped them obtain valid Indian passports in 2018.
Earlier this year, Kolkata Police stumbled upon the details of at least 120 Bangladeshi nationals who had obtained genuine Indian passports with forged identity documents.
The majority of them had fled the country using Indian passports. Kolkata Police had chargesheeted 130 persons, including 120 Bangladeshi nationals whose names had emerged in the racket.
Bidhannagar police said that how these two Bangladeshi nationals managed to obtain fake identity documents will be probed.
Kolkata Police tightened its passport verification system after the passport racket was busted earlier this year.
The added security measures include sending applicants’ identity documents to the respective departments from where they were issued for verification.