The Sahar Police have arrested a Bangladeshi woman at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport for allegedly entering India illegally and acquiring an Indian passport through forged documents. The woman, identified as Mariyakhatun Mohammad Mansoor Ali, had fled Bangladesh 33 years ago due to poverty and starvation. She later married an Indian citizen and used his identity to obtain the Indian passport, which she used to work in Kuwait for six years and travel to multiple countries.
The arrest took place in the early hours of Sunday when immigration officer Sameer Gaibu Pathan, who resides in the Kurla area, was verifying the documents of arriving passengers. Mariyakhatun arrived in Mumbai from Kuwait around 2:30 am. Suspecting irregularities in her documents, the immigration officials detained her for questioning. During interrogation, she admitted to being a Bangladeshi national and revealed that she had entered India illegally at the age of 15 to escape extreme poverty.
After arriving in India in 1992, she married an Indian man named Arvindkumar Hiralal. Using his identity, she allegedly created forged documents to claim Indian citizenship. On the basis of these documents, she obtained an Indian passport from the Mumbai office in 2016. She had renewed the passport twice since then.
In 2019, she travelled to Kuwait for employment and had been working there for the past six years. During this period, she also visited several countries using the same passport.
Mariyakhatun returned to India from Kuwait on May 25, 2025. Following a detailed investigation, she was handed over to the Sahar Police for further action. Based on a complaint lodged by immigration officer Sameer Pathan, the police have booked her under charges of submitting forged documents to illegally acquire an Indian passport and using it to travel abroad. She was formally arrested soon after the case was registered.