Noida: A sessions court on Wednesday denied bail to advocate Nasir Ali Bhatt in a case linked to a fake agency operating in the city. Police said Bhatt, a member of the Jharkhand Bar Council, helped the accused draft forged documents for an outfit calling itself the International Police and Crime Investigation Bureau.Six men from Birbhum district in West Bengal were arrested during a bust in Aug last year from a rented house in Sector 70 where they had set up an office barely 10 days earlier.The accused — Bibhash Chandra, Aragya Adhikari, Babul Chandra Mandal, Pintu Pal, Samapadmal and Ashish Kumar — allegedly posed as govt officials using police-like logos and uniforms to extort money. Police said they promised to help bring back people stranded abroad and handle police-related work for a fee. All six accused remain in jail after their bail pleas were rejected.While rejecting the bail application, sessions Judge Atul Srivastava said that the accused was alleged to be involved in the serious allegation of colluding with other co-accused to fabricate forged documents and obtain financial gain through them and through an organisation. Investigations were underway against the accused in the present case.“Considering the facts and circumstances of the above case, the nature and gravity of the offence, I am of the opinion that the accused’s bail application is insufficient,” he added.Bhatt’s counsel argued that he was not a named accused in the original FIR registered in the case, and his name first surfaced in the charge sheet filed against co-accused Anil Kumar Maurya in the ACJM Court.“The accused is merely a witness in the deed of trust (International Police and Crime Investigation Bureau) registered with the Noida sub-registrar, in which he signed with his real identity,” the counsel said.The prosecution, opposing the bail, argued that the accused and the co-accused had formed the fraudulent organisation to defraud people by forging documents, falsely impersonating govt officials, using police logos, and influencing political figures.The prosecution also argued that the regular bail applications of the six co-accused were previously rejected by the sessions court.The “international police bureau” website created to aid in scamming people is still active online, where the accused claim to assist police internationally and help in trans-border cases.During interrogation, the accused told cops they were working as an NGO in close coordination with the ministries of social justice and empowerment, tribal affairs, and ministry of AYUSH. The prosecution, however, said that none of the ministries confirmed any association with the purported ‘NGO’.During the raid, cops had recovered fake seals, ID cards, certificates from various ministries, and other forged documents.According to police, the accused had ‘ID cards’ from the International Human Rights Commission and the Special Monitoring Mission, Switzerland, along with registration documents linked to a fraudulent trust. The group had also claimed international affiliations with the Interpol and Eurasia Pol.They claimed to have a UK office too. At their Sector 70 office, their office signage mimicked that of a police officer, and their logo closely resembled the UP Police emblem.The accused would pose as international police and charged targets for services like removal of land encroachments, investigating cases, repatriation of stranded individuals, and procurement of visas.
