Six people arrested for assisting Rohingyas to get Bangladeshi passports

RAB 2 conducted a drive at several stationery shops near the passport office in Shiddhirganj upazila and seized over 25,000 forged birth certificates, multiple government office seals, laptops, mobile phones, and Tk2.3 lakh in cash, on Wednesday afternoon, reported Dhaka Tribune.

The people, who have been arrested in the incident, have been identified as Fazlul Karim, 33, Saiful Islam, 24, Azim Hossain, 26, Mamun Miya, 35, Mainuddin, 38, and Jahangir, 36.

According to RAB sources, the criminal ring, using their connections at various city corporation and union council offices, managed to get forged birth certificates for Rohingyas, which were then used to apply for Bangladeshi passports. They would charge anywhere from Tk5,000 to Tk10,000 for the forged documents, reported the news paper.

RAB 2 CPC 3 Company Commander Mohiuddin Faruque told the newspaper: “ At their initial interrogation session, the suspects confirmed helping 13 or 14 Rohingyas acquire Bangladeshi passports by supplying them with forged birth certificates.”