Kolkata, Feb 18 (IANS) Police have arrested a man suspected to be a Bangladeshi national for allegedly residing in India for several years using forged identity documents, officials said on Wednesday. The arrest was made from the Dinhata area in Cooch Behar district of north Bengal.
The arrested individual has been identified as Omar Farooq Byapari, who had reportedly been living in the Chowdhuryhat Gram Panchayat area under Dinhata-II block for several years.
He is accused of fraudulently obtaining various identity documents, including an Aadhaar card and voter identity card, allegedly by presenting an Indian citizen as his father in official records.
According to police sources, the accused had been living in India using forged documents and had managed to establish identity credentials by misrepresenting personal information in official forms.
The matter came to light after the accused filled out an enumeration form as part of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise and submitted it to the authorities. Subsequently, a complaint was lodged with the District Magistrate by the local gram panchayat, and a formal complaint was also filed at the local police station on December 4 last year.
Police sources further said that the accused was previously associated with the Ansar Bahini, a paramilitary auxiliary force responsible for maintaining law and order in Bangladesh.
Following the complaint, police launched a search operation and had been looking for the accused for several months. He was eventually arrested on Tuesday night from the Putimari area under the Dinhata police station limits.
According to local sources, Omar allegedly entered India illegally around 10 to 12 years ago and had since been residing in the Chowdhuryhat area.
When produced before a court on Wednesday, the accused denied the allegations and claimed that he was an Indian citizen and had been falsely implicated.
“I am an Indian citizen. My family is here. I used to be a Trinamool member at one time. Now I am not. That is why there are attempts to frame me,” he said.
Reacting to the arrest and the accused’s claims, Cooch Behar district Trinamool Congress Vice President Abdul Jalil Ahmed said the individual was not associated with the party.
“Omar Farooq Byapari is not associated with Trinamool. The law will take its own course. If someone is hiding here as a Bangladeshi, then the police will arrest him,” Ahmed said.
Meanwhile, Cooch Behar district BJP Vice President Biraj Basu alleged that the accused had links with the Trinamool Congress and claimed that residents had previously raised complaints against him.
“We have been claiming for a long time that Omar is Bangladeshi and has links with Trinamool. The residents of the area have also complained against him. The police arrested him under pressure. Trinamool is also denying his association as they are under pressure,” Basu said.
Dinhata Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Dhiman Mitra confirmed that an investigation was under way following the arrest.
“The police produced him in court today. There was a complaint against him that he was a Bangladeshi national. The police were searching for him on that basis. He was arrested yesterday, and further investigation is under way,” Mitra said.
–IANS
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