Varanasi: An Afghan national was arrested while he was attempting to board Air India Express flight IX-183 from Varanasi to Sharjah at the Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport using a fake Indian passport on Sunday.The arrested Afghan national had procured the fake passport in the name of Rahman Shah, while his actual identity was Abdul Rahman Taraki (37).LBSI Airport immigration officer Harshit Mishra was monitoring checks for the Varanasi-Sharjah flight before its departure when Taraki was intercepted while attempting to travel on an Indian passport. During questioning and document verification, his actual identity was confirmed as Abdul Rahman Taraki.Following the development, a team from Phulpur police station led by sub-inspector Vijay Kumar Kushwaha joined the investigation. Officials said the initial probe revealed that Taraki’s father’s name is Abdul Aziz and that he is a resident of Nikat Masjid Tata Kahilanava Navan village, Pashtoonaban, Ghazni district, Afghanistan.Taraki had come to India in 2019 on an Afghan passport on a medical attendant visa. Even after his visa expired on April 5, 2019, he continued to reside illegally in India.To facilitate his illegal stay and foreign travel, he allegedly changed his name, date of birth and parents’ details and obtained an Indian passport using an address in Fort, Mumbai, in the name of Rahman Shah. In the fake passport, he mentioned his father’s name as Khanzada Mohammad Saiyad Khan. The passport was issued by the Regional Passport Office, Mumbai.Following the revelation, the Bureau of Immigration lodged an FIR at Phulpur police station under Sections 318(4) (cheating), 319(2) (cheating by personation), 336(3), 337 (forgery), and 340(2) (using forged documents as genuine) of the BNS, Section 12 of the Passport Act, and relevant provisions of the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025. The accused was arrested.Phulpur police also recovered two mobile phones, an Aadhaar card, PAN card, voter identity card, driving licence, birth certificate, domicile certificate, two rings, a wristwatch, 750 US dollars, 2,255 UAE dirhams, 2,060 Afghan currency notes, and Rs 3,110 from him. Officials said all the seized documents are being examined. Efforts have also been intensified to identify the people who helped Taraki procure documents to establish himself as an Indian citizen.The accused was produced before the court, and further legal action is being taken.
