NIA begins probe into case related to arrest of Afghan national

Bhubaneswar, June 23 (IANS) Following the recent arrest of an Afghan national in Bhubaneswar for illegally overstaying in Odisha, officials of multiple central agencies including the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Intelligence Bureau launched a probe into the matter on Monday.

A two-member team from the NIA on Monday visited the Airport Police station here and collected details regarding the case related to the arrest of an Afghan national from Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA), Bhubaneswar on Friday.

Meanwhile, sources also claimed that another team of Intelligence Bureau on Monday visited Peyton Sahi in Buxi Bazar area of Cuttack city where the accused Afghan national, Mohammad Yousaf alias Yaha Khan has been staying illegally for the last more than six years.

The IB team visited the rental accommodation of Khan and questioned the landlord to ascertain more details in the case. The Commissionerate police are also reportedly planning to soon request the Court to bring Khan on remand for further investigation into the matter.

As per reports, based on the written report of the complainant, Samapika Pattnaik, DSP, Immigration, BPI Airport, a case was registered and Khan was arrested on Friday.

The accused on Friday arrived at the Bhubaneswar Airport from Dubai of UAE by Flight No. 6E-1488 and presented a forged Indian passport (No. U 1380251) in the name of Yaha Khan hailing from Cuttack.

During immigration clearance, on suspicion, the complainant Pattnaik and staff conducted detailed verification and found that a Discreet Look Out Circular (LOC) was issued from Kolkata Airport against the accused Khan. Preliminary investigation revealed Yousaf had illegally entered India in 2017 on an Afghan passport to Kolkata.

But, Yousuf was overstaying in India after the expiry of the visa period since January 2018. The Immigration authorities have been searching for Khan who was staying in Cuttack concealing his true identity.

During questioning, the accused confessed to his real identity as Mohammad Yousaf of Kabul, Afghanistan and admitted to forging and using false identity documents to reside and conduct business in India. He fraudulently obtained Indian documents including Aadhaar, PAN card, voter ID, driving license, gas connection bills, and an Indian passport using forged details.

Police recovered forged Aadhar Card, Voter ID, PAN Card, Driving License, and Passport, foreign currency and two gold earrings, etc.

This apart, the Commissionerate police during house search of Khan also seized bank documents in the name of Yaha Khan and Rs 50,000 in cash, for which he could not provide satisfactory explanation.

--IANS

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