Seven Rohingya arrested at KIA with fake passports

Central Crime Branch sleuths arrested seven Rohingya, including two women, from the Kempegowda International Airport on Thursday evening, while they were trying to fly to Malaysia on fake Indian passports.

The arrested were identified as Aska Begam, Mohamed Tahir, Onkar Farook, Mohammed Halek, Rehana, Mohammed Mustafa, all residents of Malla Reddy Palli in Rangareddy district in Hyderabad, and Rajath Mandal from Kolkata. Police also arrested Abdul Aleem and two other travel agents who helped them to get Indian passports.

A senior police officer said that one of the central agencies had alerted the city police about seven Rohingya planning to leave for Malaysia from KIA. Soon after the tip-off, a special team was formed and with the help of immigration officials, all seven were nabbed.

More than 30 Rohingya were exiled from Myanmar, after which they illegally gained entry into West Bengal in 2013. They managed to reach Hyderabad where they joined the Rohingya refugee camp. They contacted local agents and secured fake voter IDs and other documents, with which they got passports.

Recently, the relatives of Asma had asked her to come to Kuala Lumpur where she could lead a good life with son Halek. The information spread to other Rohingya in the camp, who also got their passports done from local agents.

Police are investigating whether the accused had travelled from KIA before and which all countries they had visited till now.