Did illegal Bangladeshi national study in IIT-Bombay?

The probe into the nationality of a BJP leader's wife has led the Crime Branch to a woman who allegedly studied at IIT-Bombay in Powai and a man from Pydhonie, both suspected Bangladeshi immigrants, officers said. The FIR in the case, registered on a complaint of a retired officer, also names two top cops.

Officers suspect the duo might be illegal Bangladeshi immigrants or may have forged documents to procure their passport. Both are currently untraceable. The Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU) of the Mumbai Crime Branch, which is investigating the case, has also questioned retired special branch officer Deepak Kurulkar regarding the duo, as he is the complainant in the case involving Reshma Khan, wife of BJP's Hyder Azam Khan.

Kurulkar, while serving as the senior inspector at special branch in 2017, had sent a team of officers to 24 Parganas district of West Bengal to check the birth records of Reshma. Sources have now revealed that the team were asked to check two more records. The team had found no existence of birth records of all three at the local corporation. "We have questioned him [Kurulkar] regarding this but he has not given satisfactory answers," a senior officer of Mumbai police told mid-day.

Police will seek the woman's details from the institute. Representation pic

The CIU has begun a search, and will write to IIT-Bombay, where the woman had studied, for her details. "We are searching for them, but currently we are focusing more on the current case to ascertain facts as per the FIR registered by Kurulkar. He was also questioned as to why he didn't complain against the other two people with the concerned police stations," an officer said. IIT-Bombay did not respond to mid-day's request for a comment by the time of going to the press.

Though a DNA report by Kalina forensic lab confirmed that Reshma is not a Bangladeshi national, the city police commissioner has ordered a fresh DNA test at the Hyderabad forensic lab. The CIU had also contacted Bihar police to find out if there were Bangladeshi immigrants in Nalanda, where her parents live. The Bihar police had confirmed there were none, and as per the records, her family has been living there for decades.

Forgery allegation stands

At present, the only allegation that stands against Reshma is that she forged her birth certificate to procure a passport, which was not issued to her because of the forgery. However, the FIR mentions that she had got her passport.

Hyder told mid-day, "I am saying this from day one that the case is politically motivated and my wife has been framed in the case. Everything mentioned in the FIR is baseless, she has not even received her passport which she applied to visit Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah (Islamic pilgrimage)." He refused to comment on the allegation of forged birth certificate, saying that the matter is sub judice.

The CIU has also recorded the statement of retired ACP Deepak Phatangde, named as accused in the FIR, for allegedly not registering an FIR against Reshma in 2017 when Kurulkar complained to Malwani police station. The CIU is also going to send a questionnaire to ADG Deven Bharti, who was the joint commissioner of Mumbai police (law and order) in 2017. He is also named as an accused in the FIR, as Kurulkar alleged Bharti threatened him against pursuing this matter further.

However, the Crime Branch said the allegations are vague and there was no direct evidence against Bharti, but the CIU will record his statement soon. Bharti has already moved court for quashing of his name from the FIR.