In yet another instance that raises a security concern, six persons, including four refugees from Myanmar, were arrested by the city police on Sunday on a charge of illegally obtaining or trying to obtain an Indian passport. Two of four Myanmarese have already got the passport using fake voter ID cards, Aadhaar cards and other documents while two others have applied for the passport.

The arrested people (Myanmarese) were identified as Mohd Rafiq (24) and Mohd Aziz (35), Abdul Kareem (35) and Mohd Saleem (22). They are Rohingya Muslims who migrated to the city as refugees following the violence in Myanmar in the past and were trying to get the Indian passport to go to the Gulf countries for jobs.

“There is no terror angle to this case. All these people were trying to go to Saudi Arabia to find jobs there. To get Visa, they needed a passport. However, they being refugees here, they cannot get Indian passport,” said  South Zone DCP V. Satyanarayana.

Police seized two Indian passports containing photographs of Md Rafeeq and Md Aziz with false names and local addresses, Indian passport applications of Kareem and Saleem with fake details of their identity. Police also seized four voter ID and Aadhaar cards containing their photographs, but fake particulars.

Police also arrested a home guard posted at RTA office, Khairatabad, for helping the refugees in securing the Indian passport illegally. The four refugees have told police that home guard Nazir Khan of Kishanbagh, currently posted at RTA office in Khairatabad, had helped them to contact Md Ghouse of Hussainialam, to obtain voter ID cards with fake particulars. Based on their confession, police also arrested Md Ghouse.

A case was registered against the accused by the Bahadurpura police under sections, 370, 466, 468, 474, 473, 474 r/w 109 of the IPC, sections 12(1)(b)(d) of the Indian Passport Act 1967, section 14(a)(b)(c) of the Foreigners Act 1946, sections 10 & 24 of the Immigration Act, 1983, section 3 of the Passport Re-entry Act, 1920. The arrested persons would be produced in court and remanded in judicial custody on Monday.