Pune Crime Files | How a Rohingya man built his house in Pune and got Indian ID proof for Rs 500

At a mosque in Pune, Khan happened to meet one Kamalbhai, who told him about the supari (betel nuts) business. Khan thus started selling supari in local markets. He came in contact with Chandrabhaga Kamble in Dehu Road during this period.

The police said Khan “purchased” about 600 square feet of Kamble’s land, located next to her house in Dehu Road’s Gandhi Nagar area, by paying her Rs 80,000 in cash. They did not prepare any documents for the property deal. Khan took possession of the land and constructed a house on it. Without getting noticed by any police agencies, he lived there for about a decade with his family pretending to be Indian citizens. His wife gave birth to a daughter and he procured Indian passports and continued to sell supari.

But Khan landed in the police net when a team of the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad’s Pune unit reached his house in July with Shahid alias Sohiddul Shaikh, 35, a Rohingya man from Myanmar.

The ATS had arrested Shaikh from Dehu Road for allegedly residing in India illegally with his wife since 2015. Shaikh told the police that “Mujammil Mamu” of Dehu Road was also from Myanmar. It was then the police took Khan into custody.

An FIR was registered against Shaikh, Khan and their wives on July 27 at the Dehu Road police station in the jurisdiction of the Pimpri-Chinchwad police commissionerate. They were booked under sections of the Foreigners Act and the Passport Act.

As per the FIR, the police seized mobile phones, SIM cards, Aadhaar cards, PAN cards, and Bangladesh currency notes from the suspects, along with Indian passports issued to Shaikh, Khan and Shafiqa. Khan’s “Maulana course” certificate and a Myanmar identity card bearing his name and photograph were also seized, as per the FIR. The police said the suspects were released on bail later and that the case was pending in court.

When The Indian Express visited Khan’s house in Dehu Road twice, it was found locked. He and his family members were not available for comment. Family members of Chandrabhaga Kamble, who sold her land to Khan, said they were not aware of his foreign nationality. Kamble passed away a few years ago and the land still belongs to her on government records, whereas Khan seems to have got the electricity bill in his name, the police said. Neighbours said they know Khan as a supariwala and have not seen him for the last few days.

Police seek cancellation of passports

The Pimpri Chinchwad police have written to the Passport authorities to cancel the passports of Mujammil Khan and other suspects from Myanmar. Indian passports were seized from several intruders from Bangladesh arrested in Pimpri-Chinchwad this year. The police have informed passport offices in Pune and Goa about 65 Indian passports allegedly procured illegally by Bangladesh and Myanmar nationals. Some Bangladeshis even went abroad using Indian passports, said V D Raut, Assistant Police Inspector, Anti-Terrorist Bureau (ATB) of the Pimpri-Chinchwad police. Deputy Commissioner of Police Shivaji Pawar, who supervises the ATB, said activities of suspicious foreign nationals were being watched closely.