Latest news with #FarooqAhmed
NDTV
5 days ago
- NDTV
Assam Agents Use Dead Man's ID To Get Passport For Bangladeshi Man, Arrested
Guwahati/New Delhi: Two men have been arrested in Assam for allegedly trying to get an Indian passport for a Bangladeshi national using fake documents created in the name of an Indian citizen who had passed away. The two accused, Burhan Uddin and Faizur Rahman, are residents of Sribhumi district bordering Bangladesh. The authorities detected the fraud during verification of passports, an exercise that is going on, and began a larger investigation into it. The two men applied for the Indian passport in the name of Farooq Ahmed, an Indian citizen who died many years ago. The fake papers used to insert the Bangladeshi citizen as an Indian also bore the same name, the police said. During verification, the police found that all the documents such as voter identity card, birth certificate, Aadhaar, and permanent account number (PAN) had been generated in Farooq Ahmed's name. Police sources said the two accused had already obtained Aadhaar and voter identity cards using the fake documents. It was only during the passport verification stage that their luck ran out. The police have seized several forged documents, electronic devices and computers from them. The two may have created more fake IDs for Bangladeshi nationals in the past, police sources said, adding they will be interrogated. Whether this was a small operation or part of a larger cross-border network is under investigation, a senior police officer said. The Assam Police are looking for the Bangladeshi man for whom the two accused tried to get the Indian passport. "We are investigating how many Bangladeshis have disguised themselves as Indian citizens using fake documents in this chain, and whether any other individual or groups are involved in this racket," Additional Superintendent of Police Pranab Jyoti Kalita told reporters. The Assam government has also cracked down on encroachers on government lands. Concerned over the influx of illegal migrants, neighbouring Manipur, Meghalaya and Nagaland have intensified checks at the interstate borders.
NDTV
5 days ago
- NDTV
Assam Cops Arrest 2 For Forging Passport Documents For Bangladeshi National
Guwahati: In a significant development, Assam Police have arrested two persons, both Indian nationals from Assam's Sribhumi district, which borders Bangladesh, for allegedly attempting to obtain an Indian passport for a Bangladeshi citizen using forged documents created in the name of a dead Indian citizen. According to police sources, the accused have been identified as Burhan Uddin and Faizur Rahman, both residents of Patharkandi in Sribhumi. The matter came to light during the ongoing verification of passports, prompting the police to initiate a broader investigation. The passport application was submitted in the name of Farooq Ahmed, and the forged documents were allegedly used to present the Bangladeshi national as an Indian citizen. During verification, it was discovered that all the documents - including a voter ID card, birth certificate, Aadhaar card, and PAN card - had been fraudulently created in the name of Farooq Ahmed, who had died several years ago. Although the fake documents had already been used to generate a voter ID and Aadhaar card, the fraud was exposed during passport verification, the police sources added. Several forged documents and electronic devices, including computers, have been seized from the two accused. Police suspect that the duo may have created fake Indian documents for Bangladeshi nationals in the past as well. Top police officials have confirmed that they are investigating the scale of the operation and whether this is part of a larger cross-border racket. Additional Superintendent of Police Pranab Jyoti Kalita told journalists, "We are investigating how many Bangladeshis have been disguised as Indian citizens using fake documents in this chain, and whether any other individuals or groups are involved in this racket." The sources further revealed that a group may be helping Bangladeshi nationals illegally enter India and acquire Indian identity documents by impersonating dead Indian citizens whose records remain accessible. The Assam Police are now trying to trace the Bangladeshi nationals for whom the passports were being arranged.
Hindustan Times
6 days ago
- Hindustan Times
Assam: 2 men held for forging passport using deceased's documents for Bangladeshi
Silchar: Two men from Assam were arrested in Sribhumi district for allegedly creating a fake Indian passport for a Bangladeshi national by using forged documents belonging to a deceased Indian citizen, police said on Wednesday. During verification, it was discovered that all the documents were generated in the name of Farooq Ahmed, who had died several years ago. (HT Archive/ Representative photo) The accused — Burhan Uddin and Faizur Rahman — both residents of Patharkandi, were arrested after police detected discrepancies during a routine verification process linked to a passport application filed a few months ago. During verification, it was discovered that all the documents — including a voter ID card, birth certificate, Aadhaar card, and PAN card — were generated in the name of Farooq Ahmed, who had died several years ago. 'The passport application was submitted in the name of one Farooq Ahmed. They managed to create a voter ID and other identity documents for the Bangladeshi national using details of a deceased Indian citizen. But we caught it during the passport verification process,' senior superintendent of police (SSP) of Sribhumi, Partha Pratim Das, said. Police seized several forged documents, photographs, and a computer used in the creation of the fakes. The computer has been sent for forensic analysis, he added. Also Read: Afghan national with LOC from Kolkata held at Bhubaneswar airport with fake passport A case was registered against the accused. 'This is not an isolated case. We suspect that more individuals — including foreign nationals — may have obtained Indian identity documents using similar forged paperwork,' an investigating officer said. Police said initial findings suggest the racket has been active in the border areas for some time, helping Bangladeshi nationals infiltrate India by impersonating locals. Also Read: Fake embassy being run by Ghaziabad man from rented home busted, fancy 'diplomatic' cars seized The Bangladeshi national for whom the passport was being secured remains untraced, the officer added. Meanwhile, the Assam Police arrested eight Bangladeshi youths at New Bongaigaon railway station for allegedly entering India illegally. They were also found carrying fake Indian documents. SSP Bongaigaon, Mohanlal Meena, said that an international human trafficking racket is suspected to have assisted them in crossing the border and acquiring forged identification.
Express Tribune
27-06-2025
- Climate
- Express Tribune
Seven dead as monsoon rains batter Punjab
At least seven people died and 46 others were injured in rain-related incidents across Punjab, as heavy monsoon showers lashed several districts of the province over the last 24 hours, rescuers and disaster-management authorities said on Thursday. According to the Rescue 1122 – Punjab's emergency rescue service – 39 people were brought to various hospitals. Among them, it added, two people died each in Jhelum, and Muzaffargarh districts and one each in Okara, Bahawalnagar and Khanewal. Okara was worst affected, eight emergencies were reported, a spokesperson said. Four emergencies were reported in Multan, two each in Faisalabad, Mandi Bahauddin, Jhang and Chiniot and one each in Lahore, Kasur, Jhelum, Sahiwal, Murree, Muzaffargarh, Bahawalnagar and Khanewal. The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) had forecast an early onset of monsoon spell across the country from June 25-July 1. As expected, Punjab received a record rain showers during the last 24 hours, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) stated. Maximum rain was recorded in Faisalabad, where 98 millimetres (mm) was recorded in GMA Town; and 91mm in Madina Town. Kasur received 63mm of rain, while Lahore's Nishtar Town and Sheikhupura city each recorded 50mm. Lahore's airport registered 24mm while 15mm was recorded in other areas. In other cities of Punjab, Joharabad recorded 48mm; Sargodha, 45mm; Chakwal, 28mm; Chiniot, 22mm; Rawalpindi, 18mm; Narowal, 17mm; Attock, 12mm; and Gujrat and Mianwali, 10mm each. besides, 5mm of rain was recorded in Muzaffargarh, in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, the PDMA spokesperson said. In Okara, Rescue Punjab Spokesperson Farooq Ahmed said, 5-year-old Dua Fatima died and 2 people were injured when a bamboo roof collapsed in Basti Riazabad. He said that that one person was injured when lightning struck 28/2R. In the district, five people were injured in roof-collapse incidents on Hujra Shah Muqim, Samadpura, Basti Sheikh, Adda Gambar and 21/DG. Similar roof-collapse incidents were also reported from Multan Faisalabad, Mandi Bahauddin, Shorkot, Lahore, Kasur, Sahiwal, Chiniot, Muzaffargarh, injuring 23. Two people died after a loader rickshaw overturned and fell into a storm drain in Jhelum. three people died in a wall-collapse incident in Muzaffargarh and Bahawalnagar. One person died after a roof collapsed in Bahawalnagar; one person died and another injured after a lightning strike in Khanewal. Two children were injured after being electrocuted from and an electric pole in Mandi Bahauddin. Five people were injured after a high-roof van collided with oil tanker collided in Murree, according to the data provided by the rescue officials. The highways police spokesperson said that rain lashed the motorways and the national highways in the Central Region, including Lahore-Kot; Lahore-Khanewal; Lahore-Sialkot motorway sections. The National Highway in Manga Mandi, Pattoki and Okara also received heavy rain. Meanwhile, the National Emergencies Operation Center (NEOC) of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) issued impact-based alerts due to expected widespread monsoon rainfall and associated flooding risks across several regions of the country. The NDMA warned that heavy rain, wind and thunderstorms are likely in multiple Punjab districts including Lahore, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Narowal, Faisalabad, Sargodha, Mianwali, Bahawalpur, Rahim Yar Khan, Multan, Rajanpur, and Islamabad during June 26-28 period.
BBC News
25-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Kashmir: The story of a dead Indian teacher who media falsely labelled a terrorist
Farooq Ahmed still bristles with anger when he talks about his brother's Iqbal, a resident of Poonch city in Indian-administered Kashmir, died in cross-border shelling on 7 May, the morning after India launched a series of air strikes in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir in retaliation to a militant attack in the town of Pahalgam that killed 26 people. Pakistan has denied having any role in the Ahmed says that Iqbal died where he had worked for more than two decades - Zia-ul-Uloom, a madrassa, or a religious centre focused on Islamic teachings, in his death, it turned out, was just the beginning of the family's troubles. As the news spread, several media channels falsely accused Iqbal of being a terrorist, following which the police put out a statement refuting the claim."My brother was a teacher but they saw his beard and skullcap and branded him a terrorist," Mr Ahmed says."It was like having salt rubbed into our wounds. We had lost Iqbal and then the media defamed him. The dead can't defend themselves."Indian officials say that a total of 16 people, including Iqbal, were killed in the cross-border shelling during the four-day military conflict that broke out between India and Pakistan following the has claimed 40 civilian deaths, though, it remains unclear how many of these were directly caused by the two nuclear-armed countries have shared a tense relationship for decades, as both administer the Himalayan region of Kashmir in part, but claim it in have fought three wars over Kashmir since independence from Britain in 1947 and came back from the brink of another one earlier this month. But as the military conflict escalated, another battle played out on social media - a disinformation war of claims and counterclaims that circulated online and on TV. Just like rumours about Iqbal's identity, other misleading and inaccurate information also found its way into some mainstream news channels and included claims such as India having destroyed Pakistan's Karachi port, which was later debunked by the Indian of the other fabrications were harder to spot, like an AI-generated video of a Pakistan army general claiming that his country had lost two aircraft in combat."The scale of misinformation and fact-free assertions being broadcast by the media was shocking," says Manisha Pande, managing editor at Newslaundry, an independent news notes that while a degree of sensationalism is expected as channels compete for viewership, "the jingoistic and irresponsible coverage" of the conflict was unprecedented in its intensity — and unlike anything she had witnessed one knows this better than Mr Ahmed. "I don't know where news channels got the information about my brother from," Mr Ahmed says."Who did they speak to? What kind of evidence did they have that my brother was a terrorist?" he asks. Weeks later, the family is still reeling from the Ahmed says that on 7 May, his brother left home for the madrassa in the morning as usual, but it was his body that returned home. By noon, they had buried him in a nearby some time, the family had no idea about the misinformation that was being shared by some news outlets. They were busy performing Iqbal's last was only hours later that a relative received a WhatsApp forward - a video clip of a prominent news channel claiming that the Indian army had killed a terrorist, with Iqbal's photo flashing on the screen."We were shocked. Soon, we began getting more calls from people asking us what was going on and why was the media calling Iqbal a terrorist," Mr Ahmed claim was shared by some prominent channels, including Zee News, ABP and News18. The BBC has reached out to the channels for comment. One channel claimed that Iqbal was killed in an "Indian strike on a terrorist camp" in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, and that he was a terrorist with Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba. "Our family members have been staying in Poonch for generations. How can they say my brother was living in Pakistan? They [the media] should be ashamed," Mr Ahmed says. The accusation against Iqbal was circulated so widely and swiftly that on 8 May, the Poonch police put out a statement, clarifying that Iqbal had died in cross-border shelling in the madrasa."Poonch Police strongly refutes such false narratives. The deceased, Maulana Mohd Iqbal, was a respected religious figure in the local community and had no affiliation with any terror outfit," the statement said, adding that legal action would be taken against any media outlet or individual who circulated the fake for Mr Ahmed, the statement was too little too late."By then, the false claim would've already reached millions of people in India," he says. He adds that except for one channel, News18, no one else had publicly apologised to him or their viewers for the mistake. Mr Ahmed says he wants to take legal action against the channels, but the process would have to wait as the family is struggling to make ends meet. Iqbal is survived by his two wives and eight children. He was the only earning member in his family. Mr Ahmed says that the compensation given by the government, which amounts to a few million rupees, will last only for a year or two and they must start planning for the future now."The whole family depended on my brother. He was a quiet and gentle man who loved teaching children," Mr Ahmed says."But who's going to tell this to the world? For many people, my brother is still a terrorist whose killing is justified. How will they understand our pain?"Additional reporting by Auqib Javeed in Srinagar in Indian-administered KashmirFollow BBC News India on Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.
