delhi

Updated: May 19, 2019 05:35 IST

A 24-year-old Rohingya from Myanmar was arrested from Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport on Wednesday for allegedly procuring a fake Indian passport and an Aadhaar card to travel to Indonesia from the national capital.

The Delhi Police said that the man, one Mohammed Faisal, had applied for refugee status with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and his application was under consideration. They added that the man was interrogated jointly by the Delhi Police and intelligence bureau officials and that nothing suspicious had been found. An FIR was registered .

According to the police, Faisal arrived at the Delhi airport early Wednesday and headed for his immigration clearance at Counter 35 of the departure wing of Terminal 3.

“Faisal had introduced himself as an Indian passenger and produced Indian passport and Aadhaar card before the immigration officer. However, the officer found some discrepancies in his travel documents. Also, when he was questioned about his trip to Indonesia, his replies were not found satisfactory. After this, all the documents he was carrying were checked, and a copy of a certificate issued by the UNHCR, dated March 20, 2017, was recovered, which established him as a Myanmar national. The documents mentioned his permanent address as Rakhine, Myanmar,” said a police officer.

The FIR that the police filed in this case, mentions that Faisal had submitted an application to the UNHCR, New Delhi, for the consideration of his refugee status. “Faisal told us that he had come to India about six months ago from Bangladesh where he lives with his family. He said he got a Bangladeshi passport made and entered India through the land route. He then travelled up to Agra by road and then to Mewat where his relatives live. He got a fake passport made with the help of his contacts in Hyderabad during his stay in India,” the officer said.

Sanjay Bhatia, deputy commissioner of police (IGI Airport), said Faisal was jointly interrogated for possible terror links by the police and officers from the intelligence bureau. “He told us that he is a Rohingya and was going to Indonesia in search of a work,” Bhatia said.