Rohingya man arrested near Hyderabad for forgery, holds Aadhaar, PAN cards

According to the police, he stayed in a refugee camp in the national capital, where he worked for a year

A Rohingya man from Myanmar was arrested by the Rachakonda police here on Tuesday charges of forgery and cheating. The man — Mohd Ismail alias Esha (20) — holds UNHCR, Aadhaar, PAN and voter ID cards issued against his name.

Esha, who was illegally staying in the Pahadishareef area of the city and working as a casual labourer, had allegedly applied for a passport, claiming to be an Indian citizen, with a plan to fly to Dubai, the police said.

"During the inquiry, he (Esha) confessed that he was a native of Nayaphara village in the Ikyapu state of Myanmar, from where he fled and came to Bangladesh in 2014. He then boarded a bus to Kolkata and subsequently, reached Delhi with the help of an agent," the Rachakonda Police Commissionerate said in a release.

According to the police, Esha stayed in a refugee camp in the national capital, where he worked for a year. "He obtained a UNHCR refugee card in January, 2016," the release said.

Subsequently, the man went to the Belagavi district of Karnataka with the help of certain persons and worked in a meat shop there. He got acquainted with one Anwar, who helped him get the Aadhaar and voter ID cards, the police said.

"In June 2016, Anwar brought Esha to Pahadishareef and introduced him to one Abdul Rasheed, who made arrangements of his accommodation. Esha had been making tiles at Chandrayangutta here," the release said.

The police said around 15 days ago, Esha got himself enrolled with an online service outlet here to change the address of his Aadhaar and voter ID cards, which he had procured from Karnataka.

"He paid Rs 18,000 to Rasheed and asked him to arrange for an Indian passport for him. He applied for the passport claiming to be an Indian national. He changed his name and procured ID proofs to go abroad," the police said, adding that they had seized the PAN and UNHCR cards of the man.

Esha has been booked under sections 420 (cheating), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record) of the IPC and relevant provisions of the Foreigners Act.

Scores of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar's Rakhine state have been fleeing the restive region since August amid a fresh wave of violence, triggering a refugee crisis in neighbouring Bangladesh and India.

Union minister Kiren Rijiju had recently said the Rohingya Muslims were illegal immigrants and pitched for their deportation.