The Kolkata police have nabbed an Afghan national from Bhowanipur police station area for illegally staying in the country after the expiry of his visa. Police said that the accused has stayed on in India for an additional five years while his visa had expired in May 2021.
The accused has been identified as Jamil Khan, and he is is currently being interrogated by the police. The police are also investigating the possible presence of other Afghan nationals in the vicinity. Jamil had arrived in the city in March 2021 on a three-month tourist visa, police said.
According to police sources, the accused had been living among the local Afghan community and had allegedly obtained a forged Aadhaar card and a fake driving license. Jamil possesses an Afghan passport and had been running a business in the for the past five years, the investigators said.
Kolkata Police’s Security Control Wing obtained information about Jamil while investigating passport and visa-related matters. They subsequently summoned and interrogated him.
The Security Control Wing is currently looking into 69 such residents who might be staying on in the city or in various pockets of Bengal without a valid visa, investigators said.
The West Bengal government has adopted a strict stance regarding infiltrators; individuals identified as illegal entrants from Bangladesh across various districts are being strictly deported.