The Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) has dismantled a high-level forgery racket allegedly helping illegal Bangladeshi immigrants obtain Indian identity documents. Two individuals—Rana Sarkar and Shoaib Qureshi—were arrested on Wednesday, while a third accused, Robiul Islam, has also been named.
They have been booked under BNS Sections 336(2) (forgery), 337 (forgery of public documents), 338 (forgery of valuable documents), 340(2) (use of forged documents as genuine); Sections 12(1)(b) and 12(2) of the Passport Act; and Sections 14(a)(b) and 14(c) of the Foreigners Act.
The ATS revealed that the trio had forged character certificates carrying the names of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) corporators to produce Aadhaar, PAN, voter IDs, and passports for undocumented Bangladeshi nationals. A total of 22 forged certificates were seized—15 bearing the signature of Councillor Gita Solanki, four printed on Corporator Shehzad Khan Pathan’s letterhead, and two signed by former councillor Kamruddin Pathan.
Investigators explained that the gang used genuine certificates originally signed by municipal councillors. Names were erased using whitener, and multiple colour copies were printed. These were then doctored with photos and details of Bangladeshi immigrants and used to fabricate Indian IDs, which were later submitted for passport applications.
The hub of this illegal operation was in Ahmedabad’s Narol area. According to ATS sources, Inspector V N Vaghela received intelligence about Rana Sarkar—an illegal Bangladeshi immigrant operating a shop named ‘VIP Mobile and Money Transfer’. Sarkar, using forged documents, had even secured an Indian passport for himself.
During a raid on the shop, ATS seized Aadhaar cards, PAN cards, voter IDs, and Sarkar’s original Bangladeshi national ID. Investigators said Islam had facilitated the entry of 13–14 Bangladeshi nationals, for whom Qureshi prepared forged documents. Sarkar then used these for passport applications.
At Qureshi’s ‘Al Qureshi Enterprise’, officials recovered 22 fake certificates and 300 digital versions on his computer. The trio had allegedly secured Indian passports for 17 illegal immigrants, with nine more applications in process.
Sarkar, originally from Kishoreganj in Dhaka, had reportedly crossed into India illegally in 2012 and lived across West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka before settling in Ahmedabad. He received his Indian passport in 2017 and opened his business a year later. Qureshi, a native of Navalgadh in Rajasthan, started his enterprise in 2015. The ATS is verifying the nationality of Islam, currently believed to be in South Korea.
Officials further alleged that the forged documents may have been used for activities like terrorism, espionage, and tax evasion—serious threats to national security.
The arrests follow Gujarat Police’s sweeping crackdown on illegal Bangladeshi immigrants launched at 3 a.m. on April 26. Over 6,500 people were detained statewide, including several Indians later released. The operation exposed the alarming presence of Indian documents among confirmed illegal immigrants.
DCP (Crime) Ajit Rajian had confirmed that Indian IDs were seized from many of those detained and that their legitimacy is under scrutiny. He said police teams were coordinating with central agencies and conducting site verifications across states.
In a political response, Gujarat Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi noted that the ATS had named Congress councillors Gita Solanki and Shehzad Khan Pathan, along with former councillor Kamruddin Pathan. He remarked that instead of blaming others, the government should own up to its failures.
As the investigation deepens, the scale and reach of the forgery network continue to raise serious concerns over the security and integrity of the country’s identification system.
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