A Pakistani national who had entered India and obtained fake identity documents to assume Indian nationality was in regular touch with his counterparts in Pakistan, the Enforcement Directorate submitted before a city court during his production on Thursday.

Ahmed Hossain Azad had posed as a Bangladeshi when arrested in connection with a fake passport racket, but in reality, he was a Pakistani national, the central agency said.

On Thursday, the agency submitted to the Special CBI court-II that they have found voluminous documents on his WhatsApp chats with his Pakistani contacts.

Sources in the central agency said documents comprising around 20,000 pages have been obtained from two mobile phones seized from Azad.

“Many photographs, possibly for making fake passports, have also been obtained from his phones. His mobile chats have made it clear that he was regularly in touch with people in Pakistan,” said an ED official.

After coming to know about his Pakistani nationality, the National Investigation Agency (NIA), too, interrogated Azad last week in ED custody.

Azad, who had reportedly planned to enter India through Bangladesh, had set up a family in Bangladesh. He had a wife and two sons in Bangladesh before he sneaked into Bengal and managed to obtain fake Indian identity documents in 2019.

The ED arrested him in connection with a fake passport racket from Birati on April 15 this year.

Initially, after his arrest, he claimed to be a Bangladeshi national. Later, during the investigation, the ED stumbled upon evidence that proved that he was a Pakistani national.

Officials of the investigating agency suspect that just like he had obtained fake documents giving him an Indian identity, he was also getting other Pakistani nationals Indian documents so that they too could settle in India posing as Indian nationals.

Azad, who had started a business under the name of Mullick Trading Corporation, was allegedly running a hawala racket which the central agency suspects could be funding a terror module.

“Given the present circumstances, probing this particular angle has become extremely significant. The WhatsApp chats and documents in his possession clearly show his direct links with Pakistan,” said a senior ED official.

Azad was produced before the Special CBI-II court at Vichar Bhavan on Thursday as the central agency sought an extension of his custody, citing the need to probe his Pakistani links and the identity of other Pakistani nationals whom he might have helped to obtain fake Indian documents to settle in India.