MP News: Five Afghans Held After Fake Passport Racket Exposed In Jabalpur; ATS Cracks Kolkata Link
· Free Press Journal
Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh): Five Afghan nationals were arrested after a fake passport racket was uncovered in Jabalpur, officials said on Sunday.
The Anti-Terrorist Squad arrested the accused from Kolkata and brought them to the city for questioning and legal action.
Visit asg-reflektory.pl for more information.
An investigation is ongoing into the use of fake Indian passports made on local addresses.
According to the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), all the arrested Afghans had Indian passports using residential addresses from Jabalpur, even though they were not living there.
The case came to light earlier when three Afghan nationals and three of their local helpers were arrested.
Based on information gathered during that investigation, the ATS identified five more suspects and tracked them down in Kolkata.
Accused on remand till February 25
The arrested accused have been identified as Zia-ul-Rehman, Sultan, Mohammad Raza Khan and Syed Mohammad Jafar Khan. They were produced before a local court on Sunday. The court sent them on police remand till February 25 to allow further questioning and investigation.
Officials said the Afghan nationals had come to India several years ago. Over time, they settled in Kolkata and were allegedly involved in money-lending activities. During questioning, it was found that they wanted Indian passports to make their stay and activities easier.
MP News: Bee Attack Leaves Four Injured In ManasaHow were the fake passports arranged?
According to information, the fake passports were arranged through Sohbat Khan, an Afghan national who was living in Jabalpur. He allegedly helped arrange local addresses and documents required for passport applications. Police said that in 2024, passports were prepared using Jabalpur addresses after taking around ₹2.5 lakh from each Afghan national.
MP News: Traffic Diverted On NH-45 After Portion Of Railway Overbridge Collapses In JabalpurSohbat Khan was arrested earlier from the Chhoti Omti area in August 2025. His arrest was a major breakthrough in the case.
During interrogation, he reportedly shared details about others involved in the fake passport network, which helped the ATS reach the accused arrested recently.