'Join TMC, Become Citizen', Amit Malviya takes jibe at Trinamool, Bengal CM

Kolkata, April 28: BJP's Information Technology (IT) cell chief and the party's central observer for West Bengal Amit Malviya, on Monday, used an innovative cartoon with the tagline “Join TMC, Become Citizen” to accuse the West Bengal government and the ruling Trinamool Congress of making the state an open field for illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators.

Malviya has said the cartoon is in connection with the recent arrest of an illegal Bangladeshi infiltrator, Ahammed Hossain Azad, by the Enforcement Directorate officials. Investigation revealed that Azad was not residing in West Bengal illegally but was also involved in money laundering, as well as arranging fake Indian identity documents for illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators.

In the cartoon, a portrait of a woman (arguably featuring West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee) is seen behind a counter with the hoarding -- "Seva Kendra- One stop for every document".

The counter window has three taglines, namely -- "Welcome New Voters, Join TMC, Become Citizen", "AADHAAR, Voter ID, Ration, Pan", and "No document required, no question asked".

The counter board contains an additional tagline -- "Special Assistance available for Rohingyas & Bangladeshi".

Since the beginning of the new year, there have been several incidents of arrests in connection with operations being conducted in the state. Those arrested were involved in arranging fake Indian identity documents, including Indian passports, for illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators.

Last month, Kolkata Police filed a charge sheet in the case of the forged passport scam at a lower court in Kolkata, where it was mentioned that of the 130 individuals mentioned in the document, 120 are Bangladeshi residents and the remaining are Indian nationals.

The main charges against the Bangladeshi nationals are that they paid huge money to secure fake Indian passports.

The charges against the accused Indian nationals are that they played the roles of facilitators for arranging fake Indian identity documents, including Indian passports, for these infiltrators.

Earlier, Kolkata Police arrested Abdul Hai, a retired Assistant Sub-Inspector of the city police. The details of Hai's involvement in the matter were also mentioned in the charge sheet.

It contained details of Hai's financial gain through these 52 police verification clearances, where he was the on-ground inquiry or verification officer.

The cops investigating the fake Indian identity document rackets have identified a specific pattern.

Any infiltrator illegally crossing over to the Indian territory contacts the local agents, and after showing willingness to pay out hefty amounts for getting fake Indian identity documents, is first provided with safe shelters in different villages adjacent to the borders with Bangladesh in the state, both land and coastal.

Thereafter, the agents arrange for fake ration cards for them, which is the first step for making other identity documents. By virtue of the fake ration cards, other identification documents like EPIC, PAN, and Aadhaar cards are acquired. The last step is getting fake passports based on these fake identity documents.

Reader Comments

R

Rajesh K.

This is really concerning. If true, it undermines national security. The government should conduct thorough investigations across all states, not just Bengal. 🇮🇳

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Priya M.

While the issue is serious, the cartoon seems unnecessarily provocative. Can't we discuss border security without resorting to caricatures? There are better ways to address this.

S

Sunil G.

The pattern described here is alarming - from ration cards to passports! Shows how our systems can be gamed. Need better verification processes ASAP.

A

Ananya B.

As a Bengali, I find this very disturbing if true. But I also know many honest officials working hard to prevent such things. Let's not paint everyone with the same brush.

M

Mohit S.

The retired ASI's involvement is shocking! If even police officers are part of this racket, who can we trust? Need complete overhaul of document verification systems.

We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.