A Bangladeshi national who had allegedly sneaked into India and was staying in Calcutta with a fake name and documents has been arrested from the Park Street area on Saturday, police said.
Salim Matabbar, who the police said is originally from Madaripur in Bangladesh, had been staying in Calcutta with forged documents that said Ravi Sharma for the past four months.
Matabbar has claimed to be a former leader of Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).
“He was working at a hotel on Marquis Street as Ravi Sharma. We have seized a fake passport and fake Aadhaar card from his possession, bearing his fake identity,” said an officer of Park Street police station.
The arrest was based on specific information about his illegal stay.
When he was apprehended, he furnished a purported Aadhaar card, which said he was from a north Indian state. Later, the document was found to be fake, the police said.
A senior officer of the
Kolkata Police said Matabbar had illegally crossed the border two years ago with the help of a tout and had stayed in Nadia district till four months ago before shifting to Calcutta.
“He has claimed that he got entangled in a political tussle with the then ruling party — the Awami League — after which he sneaked into India to take shelter. At present, he was operating as a tout and helped illegal immigrants procure fake documents for their stay in India,” the officer said.
Matabbar was produced before the Bankshal court on Saturday and sent to police custody till December 8.
Matabbar admitted before the court that he was a Bangladeshi national, sources in the court said.
The judge asked the police why his custody was needed. The police said they were yet to ascertain how Matabbar entered India and the details of the alleged racket he was working for.
The court granted the prayer and sent him to police custody. He has been charged under sections of the Foreigners Act.
The arrest triggered a blame game between the political parties blaming each other for such illegal activities in the state.
“There are thousands of such people like Salim in Bengal. Barasat is the hub for making fake Aadhaar cards for infiltrators. A few Trinamool leaders are also tied up with the racket,” said BJP Rajya Sabha MP Samik Bhattacharya.
Trinamool leader and minister Shobhandeb Chattopadhyay blamed the Centre.
“The issuing authority of Aadhaar cards and passports is the Union government. They should answer,” Chattopadhyay said.
The arrest came in the wake of protests against the arrest of Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das in Bangladesh.
Das, a spokesperson for the Bangladesh Sammilita Sanatani Jagran Jote, was arrested from Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in a sedition case on Monday. He was denied bail and sent to jail by a court in Bangladesh on Tuesday. A lawyer was killed in a clash between security personnel and supporters of the religious leader.
