Kolkata: The Foreigner Regional Registration Office (FRRO) has urged the Election Commission (EC) to scrap the EPIC cards of 22 Bangladeshi passport-holders — two of them businessmen — holding Indian voter IDs and Aadhaar cards.
The FRRO obtained the lead against these 22 individuals while detaining a few of them, all of whom were Bangladeshi passport-holders, during immigration checks at the Kolkata airport.
While the FRRO note to the EC does not specify when these individuals attempted to leave or enter India, the Bengal SIR draft lists were published on Dec 16. All these Bangladeshi nationals and their kin were staying in India with fraudulently obtained EPIC and Aadhaar on various pretexts, including medical reasons.
"The ERO will delete the names of 22 Bangladeshis from the electoral roll after hearing. We will inform the FRRO after deletion of names," an EC official said.
In last two-three months, the office of the Bengal CEO received close to 3,000 names of Bangladeshi passport-holders holding Indian EPICs. According to documents accessed by TOI, the first of the FRRO letters to the EC on Feb 3 said that a Bangladeshi national, along with his wife and son (all with valid Bangladeshi passports), approached the departure counter seeking departure from India to Bangladesh.
"During immigration, it was revealed that the passenger and his family members fraudulently obtained Indian documents to settle down in India permanently," the FRRO note said. The note also revealed three more names, all Bangladeshi passport-holders, who were their relatives.
In another report the same day, the FRRO wrote to the EC that two Bangladeshi nationals approached the arrival counter seeking arrival from Bangladesh to India. "During immigration, it was found that both came to India and fraudulently obtained Indian documents," the report said.
On the same day, the FRRO informed the EC about a Bangladeshi couple. "During immigration, it was revealed that passengers came to India on a medical visa and stayed in India for a long duration. Further, it was revealed that both the passengers fraudulently obtained Indian documents to settle in India," the FRRO communication said.
On Feb 4, the FRRO sent three separate communications to the EC, informing them about six Bangladeshi nationals who fraudulently obtained Indian IDs, including EPIC, to settle in India. One of them also ran his own business in India and obtained a GST number illegally. "In this context, it is proposed that such fraudulently obtained Indian IDs may be revoked by the competent authority at the earliest," the FRRO wrote to the Bengal CEO.
In three communications to the Bengal CEO on Feb 5, the FRRO informed about another six Bangladeshis who fraudulently obtained Indian IDs, including an Indian voter card, to settle down in India permanently. Among these 22 Bangladeshi nationals, two also obtained Indian passports by fraudulent means, the FRRO said.