Fake passport racket: 1 Pakistani arrested from Birati
The Statesman | 1 May 2025
Azad Mullick, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) from Birati in North 24-Parganas district during the middle of this month in connection with the fake passport racket scam, is a Pakistani, said officials.
The central investigating agency claimed so on Tuesday at a time when India alleged ‘cross-border linkages’ to the Pahalgam terror attack and promised the harshest punishment for those responsible.
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The ED, during the hearing of the fake passport scam case at Bichar Bhawan today, claimed that Azad Mullick is not a Bangladeshi. While interrogating him under their custody the officials of the investigating agency came to know that originally he is a Pakistani national.
He used to claim himself as a Bangladeshi in order to keep his original Pakistani identity secret.
ED’s lawyer claimed in the court that he entered India through Bangladesh about 10-12 years ago and tried to get an Indian visa using his fake identity. The accused had also made two voter’s ID cards and several driving licenses, the lawyer claimed in the court.
Azad Mullick was known as Ahmed Hossain Azad in Bangladesh. In Pakistan, his name was Azad Hossain, the lawyer informed the court.
He also said that the investigating agency is also verifying whether the accused is involved in any anti-India activities. His bank account is also being verified, the lawyer said in court.
Following the appeal of the ED, the court has granted the investigating agency to take Azad in its custody again till 8 May.
The central agency, on the other hand, has already began investigating a money-laundering angle in the fake passport racket case and it has got some leads, which suggest that proceeds of the crime had been sent to Bangladesh through hawala route.
According to the ED sources, there are “indications” that the racket operated primarily out of West Bengal, and its network extended well into Bangladesh.
According to the sources, the investigating officials probing the case have identified an alleged “two-layer” inflow of large sums of money into the racket, which involved the illegal entry of Bangladeshi nationals into India and then making fake Indian identity documents for them.
Two key accused, an Indian national Alok Nath and Azad Mullick, who had claimed himself as a Bangladeshi, were arrested from different locations in West Bengal this month. Azad, who ran Mullick Trading Corporation, had allegedly obtained fake Indian identity documents, including a passport, and was reportedly “operating a Hawala syndicate” from his residence in Kolkata.