Bangladeshi national arrested for illegal stay in Pune

Pune, Jan 18 (PTI) A 34-year-old Bangladeshi national has been arrested in Pune for allegedly staying in the country illegally for the last 20 years, police said on Saturday.

The accused, Ehsan Shaikh, who hailed from Mymensingh district in Bangladesh, ran a garment shop in the Maharshinagar area of the city, an official said.

Members of local Hindu outfits brought Shaikh to the Swargate police station after expressing suspicion about his nationality, he said.

“During the probe, Shaikh failed to provide his birth certificate and other documents. He then confessed that he is from Sonkanda Bazar in Mymensingh district of Bangladesh and had illegally entered India through Kolkata in 2004,” the officer from Swargate police station said.

He said Shaikh had initially procured a forged birth certificate from R G Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata with the help of a Bangladeshi agent. He then moved to Mumbai and, in 2009, relocated to Bhosari in Pimpri-Chinchwad.

The official said that by 2012, the accused settled in the Maharshinagar area, where he worked at a wholesale garment shop before starting his own business.

The accused had managed to obtain a forged Aadhaar card, voter ID, Indian passport, and PAN card, he said, adding that the police also recovered six foreign currency notes from the man.

Shaikh has been arrested under relevant sections of the Foreigners Act 1946 and the Passports Act 1967, the official said.