As the special cell of the Delhi police continues the interrogation of the nabbed terrorist, his nationwide links indicate an in-depth network of Islamic terrorists’ sympathisers. In the interrogation, Ashraf told police how he made his intrusion into India through Bangladesh and scanned the whole country to run his evil agenda.
Ashraf’s interrogation opens up a Pandora box of sleeper cells
Ashraf revealed that he came to India in 2005 and settled in Bihar for a brief period. His stay in Bihar was supported by a local Muslim called Noor Alam. One of Noor Alam’s friends helped Ashraf to get a duplicate Indian ID card through a sarpanch (second in line with village administration after Mukhiya) in the Kishanganj district.
After failing to solidify his mission in Bihar, he went to Ajmer, Rajasthan, while maintaining his connections with the old acquaintances in Bihar. Ashraf’s evil plot started to pick momentum in Ajmer after he came in contact with a few more people belonging to Kishanganj.
He regularly visited Arariya and Kishanganj, key districts in Seemanchal, Bihar; famously known for supporting illegal Bangladeshi terrorists in the region. He had also married a girl from Ghaziabad, whom he later deserted.
Ashraf launched himself in India using Bihar’s ID card
Using the fake ID card made in Bihar, Ashraf started to visit various states to establish a network of ISI sleeper cells in India. Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh were key areas where he was a frequent visitor. Apart from them, Udhampur in Jammu was also one of his main areas of operation.
Ashraf then made more ID cards with a total of 5-6 temporary addresses. In 2014, he got a passport from the Indian government based on the permanent address of Bihar. Ashraf used this passport to tour countries like Nepal, UAE, and Thailand on orders given to him by his terrorist masters in Pakistan.
One of the Delhi police officers said, “He established his Indian identity from a village in Bihar after his marriage. Later, he made ID cards on other addresses and on the basis of those documents, he got his passport made in 2014. He has a permanent address of Bihar and has different addresses on other IDs.”
On 12th October 2021, Delhi police announced that they have nabbed a key ISI operative from Lakshmi Nagar in Delhi. The capital police tweeted- “A terrorist, Pak national, caught by Delhi Police Special Cell from Laxmi Nagar area of Delhi, staying on fake identity on forged documents, as we beefed up anti-terror alert and action across city in current festive season. Major terror plan foiled. Further probe on,”
A terrorist, Pak national, caught by #DelhiPolice #SpecialCell @CellDelhi from Laxmi Nagar area of Delhi, staying on fake identity on forged documents, as we beefed up anti-terror alert and action across city in current festive season. Major terror plan foiled. Further probe on.
— Delhi Police (@DelhiPolice) October 12, 2021
Seemanchal-A hub of Islamists in Bihar
It is not the first time that Bihar’s Seemanchal region has been making headlines for alleged support of terrorism. The illegal Muslim (mainly) migrants get entry into the region through the Siliguri border. Because of the solidification of Muslim vote banks in the region, the immigrants have an easy time getting local sympathisers. Slowly, they get converted into new vote banks while continuing their anti-national activities on the signals from across the border. The area is also informally known as Mini-Pakistan, due to which Kishanganj’s district magistrate has taken strict actions on illegal voters in the ongoing Panchayat elections in Bihar.
Read more: Kishanganj in Bihar has become Mini Pakistan, thankfully the new DM has come with a plan
Duplicate ID card-a national problem
However, the issue of duplicate identity cards is much older and not limited to any one area. The menace of illegal ID cards has mainly affected states and Union territories that share their borders with countries like Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh. Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and states like Punjab, Assam, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, etc are some of the key regions where fake ID rackets have solidified themselves
- In July 2017, a youth was arrested for selling fake voter ID cards in Assam.
- In March 2018, ATS Pune had arrested a man for helping illegal Bangladeshis in forging an identity card.
- In December 2018, another pro-active action by the police saw a fake voter ID racket busted near the Bangladesh border in West Bengal.
- The same month saw an AAP MLA facing allegations of providing fake voter ID cards to illegal Bangladeshis.
- In November 2020, 11 people were arrested for posing as fake air force officers in Assam.
- In February 2021, a fake card maker was arrested from the Baramulla district in North Kashmir.
- In August 2021, UP police arrested a man who was allegedly trying to hack into the election commission’s website for making fake identity cards.
If the anti-national forces dare to forge a duplicate id card, and that too with so much ease that it takes 15 years to catch them, the whole purpose behind CAA, NRC stands a risk of dilution. The identity card of a country should be given to indigenous people and a strict system should be put in place to check the forgery of national identity cards.