Rohingya youth held in Hyderabad for cheating, forgery

A Rohingya Muslim youth from Myanmar has been arrested on the charge of cheating and forgery after he managed to obtain various Indian identity cards to get issued a passport, Hyderabad Police said on Monday.

Mohammad Ismail, 20, had obtained the Aadhaar card, Voter Identity Card and Permanent Account Number while residing in Karnataka and based on these documentary proofs was now trying to secure an Indian passport to go to Dubai, police said.

Ismail was booked for cheating and forgery under the Indian Penal Code and the Foreigners Act.

A native of Ikyapu state, he was residing in Pahadishareef area on the city outskirts since June last year. He told police he had come to India via Bangladesh in 2014.

Ismail also possessed a birth certificate issued by Dum Dum municipality in Kolkata. He stayed in Delhi for a year before shifting to Belgaum in Karnataka.

Rachakonda police commissionerate officials said the accused was helped by a local in Belgaum in obtaining different Indian identity cards.

In Hyderabad, his landlord Abdul Rasheed was helping him in changing addresses on identity cards and applying for an Indian passport, police said.

There are 16,000 Rohingyas in India who are registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, though their actual number is an estimated 40,000.

About 4,000 Rohingyas live In Hyderabad and possess refugee cards.

--IANS

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