Rs 5 lakh, fake ID cards, passports seized from 5 Afghan nationals

Police seized Rs 5 lakh cash, documents relating to transactions worth over Rs one crore, fake passports, Aadhaar and voter ID cards and other documents from five Afghan nationals who were arrested from Katihar district, an official of the force said on Wednesday.

The five Afghan nationals, who were staying in Kathihar on the basis of forged documents, were arrested on Tuesday, Katihar superintendent of police Vikas Kumar said.

The five were staying in a rented house in Choudhary Mohalla locality of Katihar district for several years, he said.

The police had raided their residence based on suspicion and seized fake documents like the Aadhar cards, driving licences, voter ID cards, PAN cards, ATM cards and other documents, he said.

When the police interrogated the five men about their nationality, they claimed that they are Indians and produced forged documents to prove it.

While three of them were found to have valid passports, two had no papers to show, the SP said.

They were found to have procured documents like birth certificates, residential certificates from Kishanganj and Kolkata to prove their nationality, the SP said.

The house owner had allegedly helped them to procure the fake documents, the SP said.

A total of seven persons have been named in the FIR. They are the five Afghans, the house owner and another person.

The two other than the Afghans are on the run, the SP said.

An FIR had been lodged under various sections of the IPC, the Money Laundering and Foreign Immigration Acts, he said adding probe agencies including the CID, special branch, ATS, local police are investigating the case.

As per the preliminary probe all of them were involved in lending money on interest, the SP added.