Mumbai's Sahar Police have arrested a Bangladeshi national who had been living illegally in India for the past 26 years. The accused, identified as Swapan Kumar Haripada Mandal, was apprehended at Mumbai Airport while attempting to board a flight to Riyadh using a fake passport. During immigration checks, authorities discovered multiple forged documents in his possession. Investigations revealed that the accused had previously traveled to China and the UAE twice using the fake passport.
According to officials at the Sahar Police Station, the accused arrived at Mumbai Airport on November 23 at 4:30 PM for his Riyadh-bound flight. During immigration checks, it was found that his passport was issued in Jeddah. However, his manner of speaking raised suspicions, prompting officials to question him further. Upon interrogation, the accused confessed to being a Bangladeshi citizen. Further scrutiny revealed that his passport contained details forged using Indian documents and listed a Bangladeshi address. A fake passport belonging to his wife was also recovered from his possession.
Senior immigration officials interrogated the accused, who admitted to illegally entering India from Bangladesh in 1998. Initially, he worked as a carpenter in Kolkata and later, in 2005, used forged documents to obtain an Indian passport. He then traveled to China and the UAE for employment. In 2015, with the help of an agent, he renewed his fake passport and continued traveling, visiting Bangladesh, China, and the UAE multiple times. He returned to India two months ago.
Following these revelations, immigration authorities alerted the police, who promptly arrested the accused. Further investigations into the case are underway.