Five Afghan nationals arrested by Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) Jabalpur in a fake passport case were remanded to judicial custody till March 10. The ATS team had arrested the accused from Kolkata three days ago and later brought them to Jabalpur for further investigation. Earlier, the agency had obtained two days of police remand from the court for interrogation.

 

During the hearing, ATS officials informed the court that it is a serious national security concern if foreign nationals stay illegally in India and manage to obtain passports using forged documents. Investigators informed the court that questioning focused on identifying where the fake documents were prepared and who assisted the accused in obtaining them. Preliminary investigation has revealed that the Afghan nationals used smaller cities to avoid suspicion while preparing forged documents and applying for passports. Officials added that the probe may also examine the role of passport department personnel who could have assisted in issuing the fake passports. The arrested individuals have been identified as Zia-ul-Rahman, Sultan Mohammad, Raza Khan, Syed Mohammad, and Zafar Khan. According to ATS findings, they travelled from Kabul in 2018–19, entering India via New Delhi before moving to Kolkata, where they had been staying.