TOI photograph

BENGALURU: An Indian and three Pakistani nationals were arrested in Bengaluru, for allegedly staying in India under fake identities. They were living in South Bengaluru’s Kumaraswamy Layout for the past nine months. Besides their Pakistani passports, the trio was found to be in possession of Indian voter identity and Aadhar cards.

Following the arrest, central intelligence agencies are in Bengaluru, assisting city cops to investigate if they were conspiring anything against India. However, when interrogated, the suspects said they were here for love.

The suspects in custody are Kirhon Ghulam Ali, 26, Khasif Shamshuddin, 30 and Samira Abdul Rehman, 25, natives of Karachi, Pakistan. The fourth individual who was apprehended, Muhammad Shihab, is an Indian hailing from Kerala. Shihab is married to Samira and Khasif married to Kirhon.

During the interrogation, Shihab told cops he met Samira in Muscat, Oman while he was employed there over a year ago. They fell in love and wanted to marry. However Samira’s family in Karachi was opposed the marriage.

Interestingly, Samira’s cousin Kirhon was in a relationship with Khasif. It was opposition to their marriage from their respective families that drove the two away from Pakistan, the duo told cops.

Sometime last year, they decided to come to India. The couples flew from Muscat to Katmandu in September 2016. They subsequently crossed the Indian border in Bihat by road, and travelled to Patna, before arriving in Bengaluru.

Before going to Muscat, Shihab was working in Bengaluru and had been residing at Kumaraswamy Layout. Expecting resistance to his marriage from his family, Shihab came to Bengaluru, and rented a house at Kumaraswamy Layout.

In the rental agreement, the women had changed their names -- Kirhon to Kiran and Samira to Najma. They used these altered names for their Indian identification documents.

Senior cops were mum on the details of what led to the arrest. “CCB got a tipoff regarding them while investigating another case,” police said.

Police have charged the three Pakistanis under the Foreigners Act, Passport Act and provisions of the Indian Penal Code for forging official documents. “Central agencies and the Pakistan Embassy have been informed of their arrests. We are verifying the information that the accused have given us,” said Praveen Sood, Commissioner of Police.

