Two Bangladeshi Sisters, Aided by Indian National, Arrested in Pune for Illegal Stay and Forged Documents

Katraj, 28th June 2025: Two Bangladeshi sisters, aged 30 and 38, were arrested by Ambegaon police on Thursday for residing illegally in India using forged identity documents. Alongside them, a man—husband of the elder sister and a native of Bihar’s Nalanda district—was also taken into custody for allegedly helping them procure Indian documents through fraudulent means.

The arrests were made following a tip-off from the Hyderabad police, who informed Pune’s Special Branch about a woman from the Ambegaon area suspected of frequent international travel, particularly to Bangladesh.

“We began verifying her details and discovered she had obtained an Indian passport in July 2022 using questionable documentation,” said Senior Police Inspector Sharad Zine, who is heading the investigation. “When our team visited her registered address, she was not found there. We traced her to a different residence where we found two women and a man staying together.”

During the verification process, both women presented Indian identification documents including Aadhaar and PAN cards, claiming to be Indian nationals. However, a search of the premises revealed a Bangladeshi passport belonging to the 38-year-old woman, raising immediate red flags.

“Upon further questioning, the women admitted to being sisters from Bangladesh. The older one had been living in India since 2004, while the younger arrived in 2018,” Zine added. Investigators also discovered that both were allegedly involved in sex work.

According to police, the elder sister had married an Indian man from Nalanda, Bihar, who then facilitated the creation of fraudulent Indian identity documents, including Aadhaar, PAN, and Voter ID cards, for both women. These documents were reportedly obtained from Bihar using forged residential proofs.

“The younger sister even managed to acquire an Indian passport and used it to travel to Bangladesh and other countries multiple times,” the officer said. “This shows a clear case of illegal stay, use of forged documents, and cross-border movement under false identity.”

The police have booked the two women under relevant sections of the Foreigners Act, Passport Act, and Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for illegal residency and document fraud. The man has been charged with abetment, forgery, and providing assistance in obtaining fake documents.

Further investigation is underway to trace the network that helped them acquire Indian IDs and to determine if more individuals are involved in similar activities. The police have not ruled out the possibility of a larger racket involving cross-border human trafficking or immigration fraud.