Thane woman arrested for using forged documents to obtain Pakistani visa

Nagma alias Sanam Khan. Pic/Rajesh Gupta

A 24-year-old woman from Thane, Maharashtra, has been arrested for allegedly using false documents to obtain a Pakistani visa, a police officer said Friday. Vartak Nagar police arrested Sanam Khan, also known as Nagma Noor Maqsood, on Thursday after three days of questioning. She was brought to court and remanded in police custody for two days, stated a PTI report.

According to investigators, Khan obtained the visa using a false identity under the name Sanam Khan Rukh. She is accused of fabricating documents to obtain Aadhaar and PAN cards. Khan, who is separated from her husband, lives with her mother in Thane, the report stated.

Reportedly, Khan allegedly befriended a man from Pakistan on social media and attempted to obtain a visa to see him. Initially unsuccessful owing to a "lack of marriage documentation," she eventually married the man virtually from India, received the requisite documents, and flew to Pakistan to marry again.

Following the discovery of these data, the police initiated an investigation and filed a case against a guy who allegedly helped her get phoney documents. Further investigations are underway, with the assistance of other agencies, the report added.

Thane woman claims she is innocent, had changed her name in 2015

Nagma alias Sanam who was arrested on Friday, previously told mid-day.com that she was married off when she was a teen during her visit to her village in Uttar Pradesh and that her ex-husband was abusive and she separated from him in 2015. She said that she started speaking to her now-husband, a Pakistani national, online and she married him after getting her a passport and visa in 2023.

She said, "I was in Std VIII when my family arranged for me to be married to a local during a visit to our village in Utter Pradesh. Later, I was wed to the person and lived in his home but he was unemployed and would beat me. In 2015, I separated from him and returned home with my daughter. In 2021, during the pandemic, I met Bashir Ahmed online and we fell in love with each other. Bashir told me he would marry me and I decided to go to Pakistan. Love is supreme and no border can separate me from the object of my affection. In 2023, I applied for a passport and after receiving it, applied for a visa."

She further stated that she got the passport with the name 'Sanam Khan' after she changed her name in 2015 since she did not like her given name. She said the Indian embassy had even advised her before travelling to formalise her marriage online which she complied with before moving to Abbottabad where her husband resides.

She further stated, "Both our parents are happy with this marriage, and I will continue to travel between India and Pakistan. Therefore, I request the Central and state governments to verify my documents once and for all so that I do not have to face such difficulties repeatedly as my in-laws are in Pakistan and my maternal home is in India."