Navi Mumbai: Bangladeshi woman, Indian husband held for using fake documents for passport

Navi Mumbai: Rabale police took custody of a Bangladeshi woman and her Indian husband for allegedly using fake documents to get an Indian Passport on March 5, 2023. The woman was caught using a fake birth certificate during document verification by the passport verification unit of the police station.

The accused, identified as Priya Hemant Gupta alias Priyara Mustaffa Mandal, 25, a native of Bangladesh, was living with her Indian husband in Airoli for the last three years. The woman did not have valid documents to enter the country. Her husband identified as Hemant Dashrathilal Gupta, 25, a resident of Airoli and native of Uttar Pradesh was also booked for helping her wife despite knowing that she was Bangladeshi, and helped her using fake documents to get an Indian Passport.

According to police, on March 4, 2023, both wife and husband approached the Passport verification department of Rabale police station to know the status of verification. Manhendra Ganfurde, police constable with the Passport Verification department of Rabale police sought supporting documents that they submitted the next day.

However, during verification of documents submitted by the woman, police constable Gangurde found discrepancies in the birth certificate when they scanned the QR code available on the certificate. After scanning the QR code, Gangudre found that the birth certificate was in another woman's name instead of Priya Hemant Gupta. When he asked the woman about her birthplace, she gave a vague answer. Following this, the police checked all the details. 

Under the guidance of senior officials of the police station, the crime branch unit checked the details of the woman and found that the woman was living for three years in Airoli and she is a Bangladeshi national. She married an Indian national Hemant Dashrathilal Gupta and lived together.

The police then interrogated the woman and she admitted that she was from Bangladesh and could not produce the valid documents needed to enter the country. Both were booked for cheating and using fake documents under the relevant section of IPC. In addition, the woman was booked under the relevant sections of the Foreign National Act 1948.