Muzaffarpur. The scope of investigation into the gang that prepares fake Aadhaar cards in Bihar and gets Indian passports made for foreign nationals including Bangladeshis is increasing. Muzaffarpur Police is now preparing to share information related to this case with the central investigating agencies. The allegations of the gang’s alleged mastermind Mohammad Ejaz Qamar’s network and providing Indian identity documents to foreign nationals are being linked to national security. The possibility of National Investigation Agency (NIA) investigation in this matter is also being expressed. However, the NIA has not formally confirmed taking over the investigation. Police investigation so far has revealed information about the network of Aadhaar centers and operators linked to Ejaz Qamar in 17 states of the country including many districts of Bihar.
Investigation of fake Aadhaar and passport gang will reach central agencies
Muzaffarpur Police has gathered important information regarding the gang preparing fake identity documents. Investigation has revealed that the gang was allegedly misusing the machines and login IDs of operators authorized for Aadhaar centres.
According to police officials, this matter is not limited to making fake Aadhaar cards only. Since Indian identity documents and passports are being prepared for foreign citizens, its national security related aspects are also necessary to be examined.
For this reason, the local police is preparing to share the documents related to the case and information about the network of the accused with the central agencies.
In the investigation, an attempt will be made to find out how many foreign citizens the gang provided Indian documents to and where these documents were used.
Mastermind Ejaz Qamar was arrested from Patna
Muzaffarpur Police had arrested Mohammad Ejaz Qamar from Patna in the first week of October.
Ijaz is said to be originally a resident of Arrah in Bhojpur district. His family has been living in Chandigarh for a long time.
During police interrogation, it was revealed that Ajaz had studied M.Tech and was involved in the work of providing machines and staff for Aadhaar centres.
According to the police, under the guise of this business, he was allegedly running a network of preparing fake documents.
After his arrest, he was produced in the court and sent to jail. In this case, the arrest of four accused including Ijaz was confirmed.
Network in 17 states, role of more than 200 operators investigated
In further investigation by the police in this case, important information regarding the expansion of the network has come to light.
Initial investigation revealed that Ejaz Qamar’s network was active in 11 states. Later reports noted its connection to various bank-based Aadhaar centers in 17 states.
The investigation has also revealed that about 200 operators are connected to this network.
It is alleged that some of these employees were posted at authorized Aadhaar centers and illegal changes were made in the identity documents through them.
Police are now trying to find out at which centers the irregularities took place and how many operators were actually involved in criminal activities.
Merely because an employee from Ejaz’s company is deployed at a center does not prove his involvement in the crime.
The gang was exposed from the cyber cafe of Muzaffarpur.
This whole matter started with the information received by Muzaffarpur Nagar police station on September 30.
Police had received information that Aadhaar cards were being made fraudulently under the guise of a cyber café in Motijheel area.
After the information, the police raided an establishment named Kanhai Communication.
During the operation, laptops, Aadhaar linked electronic devices, fingerprint and iris scanners, cloned thumb impressions and eight original Aadhaar cards were recovered.
Police arrested Sahil Kumar from the spot. After this, on the basis of investigation, Shiv Kumar Pandit and Sujit Kumar were arrested.
After interrogating the accused, Ejaz Qamar’s name came up and he was arrested from Patna.
Indian passport made in the name of Bangladeshi citizen
Police investigation revealed a case of getting an Indian passport made for a Bangladeshi citizen on the basis of alleged fake documents.
According to reports, the Muzaffarpur address and name of Mohammad Aftab were used for Bangladeshi national Mohammad Belal Hossan.
The investigation revealed irregularities related to the passport and the documents submitted for it.
Police are trying to find out which documents were used in the passport application and how the alleged forgery was not detected during the verification process.
This matter has raised serious questions about the credibility of the process of issuing identity documents and passports.
Passports of 31 Afghan citizens also investigated
Names of Afghan citizens have also emerged in the investigation related to fake passports.
According to published reports, information about the issuance of Indian passports to 31 suspected Afghan nationals at Bihar addresses had reached the concerned authorities.
Of these, it was revealed that 30 persons also had passports of Afghanistan.
The question before the police and related agencies is on what basis these people presented proof of Indian identity and address.
However, the direct connection of all these cases with Ejaz Qamar’s network has not been proven yet. Independent verification of documents and identity of persons concerned by investigating agencies.
