ED files charge sheet against Pak national who made Indian docs for Bangladeshis

NEw new delhi: The Enforcement board of directors (ED) has filed a bill piece of paper against a Pakistani subject, Ahammed Hossain Azad alias Ajad Mallik, who had been living in Kolkata for years and was running a fake racket of providing Indian IDs to Bangladeshis, people familiar with the development said on Monday. Azad, ED said in a statement, operated a hawala network to facilitate illegal cross-border remittances between India and Bangladesh, collecting payments in cash and UPI, before transferring equivalent amounts to Bangladesh using platforms like Bkash.The charge sheet under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) was filed before a special court in Kolkata on June 13. The court has already taken its cognizance. ED’s probe is based on a first information report (FIR) filed by West Bengal police under section 14 and 14A of the Foreigners Act, 1946 against Azad and unknown others. The financial crimes probe agency had earlier carried out raids in the matter on April 15 and subsequently arrested him from Birati, North 24 Paragnas. Azad, 53, ED statement said on Monday, “initially believed to be a Bangladeshi national, was found residing in India without valid documents and found involved in making Indian passports and other documents through fraudulent means for illegal immigrants in lieu of money”. Earlier, in April, the agency said he has two sons - Osama Bin Azad and Omar Faruk - and his wife Maymuna Akhter, residing in Bangladesh and are citizens of that country while adding that he frequently visited Bangladesh to meet his family. Detailing his Pakistani origins, ED said on Monday - “Investigation revealed that Ahammed Hossain Azad alias Azad Hossain was a Pakistani national illegally living in India. A Pakistani driving license dating back to 1994 was recovered from his mobile phone, bearing the name Azad Hossain and featuring the photograph of Ajad Mallik alias Ahammed Hossain Azad, listed his father’s name as Mumtaz-Ul-Haque and a permanent address in Pakistan.”“The document recorded his date of birth as August 14, 1971 and was issued by the licensing authority in Hyderabad, Pakistan. In order to conceal his true identity, Azad Hussain adopted the alias Ajad Mallik and procured multiple Indian identity documents — including Aadhaar Card, PAN card, driving license, voter ID, and passport — by submitting forged and fabricated documents,” ED added.Highlighting his other illegal activities, ED said “Azad operated a hawala network to facilitate illegal cross-border remittances between India and Bangladesh, collecting payments in cashand UPI, before transferring equivalent amounts to Bangladesh using platforms like Bkash.”“He was also involved in illegal money transfers and document forgery. He was actively involved in facilitating the preparation of visas and passports for Bangladeshi nationals seeking to travel to foreign countries such as Dubai, Cambodia, and Malaysia. He collected payments in Bangladeshi Taka, USD, or Indian rupees and either deposited these amounts into his own bank account or transferred them to the accounts of associates engaged in fraudulent visa or passport processing,” ED statement said. Further, the agency said, “Azad played a significant role in the fraudulent activities carried out at certain forex changers based in Kolkata, in which huge cash deposits were falsely represented as proceeds from legitimate foreign currency sales to customers but were proceeds of crime (POC) actually linked to unlawful practices, including the creation of fake Indian identities for Bangladeshi individuals to obtain passports”.ED is investigating his links in Pakistan, including with the ISI and terror groups.