Seeking court’s permission to question Ahammed Hossain Azad, who has been arrested in connection with the ongoing probe into the fake passport racket, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday said that the 53-year-old was also involved in making fake visas.
Azad, who was arrested by the ED on April 15 from Birati in North 24 Parganas district, earlier claimed to be from Bangladesh. However, on further probe, the ED found that Azad was from Pakistan and had come to India via Bangladesh.
The 14-day ED custody of Azad ended Tuesday, and the court sent him to judicial custody. The ED wants to question him in jail.
In its submission to the court, the ED said they have found fresh evidence of bank transactions worth around Rs 50 crore between Azad and his associates.
“Azad used to make visas for European countries. He also used to make fake visas for Dubai, Cambodia, and Malaysia. We are investigating whether he sent any militant to Europe on fake passports and visas,” the ED told the court.
“We have recovered two voter ID cards from him (Azad), one as a resident of Naihati Assembly and the other of the Rajarhat – Gopalpur Assembly segment. Also, two driving licences have been recovered from him. We are investigating as to who helped him make those voter cards,” the ED’s counsel said.
According to ED sources, Rs 50 crore was deposited in cash in multiple accounts related to Azad in the last three to four years.
Initially, during interrogation, Azad maintained he was from Feni district in Bangladesh, with a wife and two sons living there. Further investigation revealed he was originally from Pakistan. He entered Bangladesh and obtained a passport in 2017 under the name Ahammed Hossain Azad, then entered India in 2019 on a tourist visa and “managed to acquire Indian identity documents, including an Aadhaar card, voter ID, and an Indian passport.”
ED sources had said they recovered 20,000 alleged pages of documents from two mobile phones belonging to Azad, including WhatsApp chats they want to show him during interrogation. Over 20,000 contact numbers were allegedly found, some with ISD codes indicating “regular contact with Pakistani citizens.” His mobile data also “revealed” associations with “suspicious” groups, and the ED is decoding numerous recovered voice recordings to identify his contacts and the nature of their conversations.
Azad is believed to have created fake Indian documents for at least 200 people, possibly up to 500, and used them to produce fraudulent passports. After obtaining fake Indian IDs, he allegedly expanded his network across India, contacted agents, and helped illegal immigrants from Pakistan and Bangladesh secure Indian and foreign visas. The ED is investigating the extent of this network and others involved.