Bangladeshi man found living in India with forged documents for 26 years; held with fake passport

Mumbai: A routine security check at the Mumbai International Airport blew the lid off the fake identity of a Bangladeshi man who was found to be living in India for the past 26 years without scrutiny, leading to his arrest.

Immigration officials stopped Swapan Kumar Haripada Mandal from boarding a flight to Riyadh on Saturday after noticing anomalies in his passport details, a police official said on Tuesday.

Mandal's interrogation disclosed that he was using a fake Indian passport.

During immigration checks, authorities discovered multiple forged documents in Mandal's possession. Investigations showed that he had previously travelled to China and the UAE twice on a fake passport.

"Immigration staff noticed that Mandal's passport was issued in Jeddah. However, his manner of speaking raised suspicions, prompting officials to question him further," the official said.

The accused told officials that he is a Bangladeshi citizen who has been illegally living in India for the past 26 years using forged identity documents.

"Further scrutiny disclosed that Mandal's passport contains forged details. It showed Indian documents were used while the listed address is in Bangladesh," the official said.

A fake passport belonging to his wife was also recovered from his possession.

Immigration authorities handed over Mandal to Mumbai Police.

Further investigations are underway, an official added.