Enforcement Directorate has detained Binondo Sarkar and his two sons, Biplab Sarkar and Bipul Sarkar from Parari village of Chakdah of Nadia district of West Bengal today in connection with a fake passport case.
Biplab Sarkar is a mason, and Bipul Sarkar is a carpenter by profession. As per ED sources, the accused have relatives in Bangladesh. Recently, the ED arrested Indu Bhushan Halder, a resident of Shibpur village of Ghetugachi gram Panchayat of the Nadia district, in connection with a fake passport case.
ED got the lead from Indu Bhushan Halder, and after interrogation, the agency detained Binondo Sarkar and his two sons, Biplab Sarkar and Bipul Sarkar. The father and son trio allegedly got fake passports from Indu Bhushan Halder.
According to ED sources, the search was conducted at the premises of Biplab Sarkar, who is suspected of being an agent in the issuance of passports fraudulently. The raid is being conducted as part of its investigation into the case linked to a Pakistani national, Azad Mallik, who was arrested earlier this year.
Sources said Biplab Sarkar’s name surfaced during the interrogation of Indu Bhushan Halder, a middleman arrested last month for helping foreigners get Indian Identity documents (passport) in lieu of money.
The family members of Biplab Sarkar are also under the scanner for being involved in the same activities.
The ED team reached Parari village in Chakdaha earlier this morning and went straight to Biplab Sarkar’s house. The search began as soon as they entered his ordinary clay house. The team also got the passport.
The ED is investigating how fake passports were made and where all the people travelled to. Sarkar’s family members were also questioned.
It may be noted that Pakistani citizen Azad Mallick was arrested in the fake passport case earlier this year. At that time, the ED conducted searches at several places near the India-Bangladesh border in the North 24 Parganas and Nadia districts.
Monday’s search is also based on the same sources. Last month, an accused named Indu Bhushan Haldar was arrested in Nadia in a passport forgery case. Indu Bhushan had renewed Azad Mallick’s Indian passport.
Sources said Biplab Sarkar has been linked to Indu Bhushan, and it is learned that about 350 fake passport applications were made from Indu Bhushan’s cyber cafe in Chakdaha.