Mandal, originally from Hatvilla Kotvali, Bangladesh, has been living in Vashi since 2008 and married Indian citizen Kartikkumar Sen in 2012. She gave birth to her daughter in 2017. According to her Indian passport, the girl is now eight years old
Champa Mandal alias Sweety Khatun
The Mumbai police on June 24 arrested a 36-year-old Bangladeshi woman, Champa Mandal alias Sweety Khatun, at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport for attempting to fly to Dhaka using an Indian passport, which they later discovered was acquired using fake documents. Authorities have since handed over her eight-year-old daughter to her Indian father.
Mandal, originally from Hatvilla Kotvali, Bangladesh, has been living in Vashi since 2008 and married Indian citizen Kartikkumar Sen in 2012. She gave birth to her daughter in 2017. According to her Indian passport, the girl is now eight years old.
The case came to light when Immigration Officer Ganesh Gawli noticed inconsistencies in Mandal’s travel documents as she and her daughter prepared to board Air India flight AI-2183 to Dhaka. Suspicious of her accent and unable to get a satisfactory explanation for her travel, Gawli escalated the matter. Upon questioning by senior immigration officers, Mandal admitted that both she and her daughter were Bangladeshi nationals.
Investigators later found that Mandal held a valid Bangladeshi passport issued in 2019. File pic
Investigators later found that Mandal held a valid Bangladeshi passport issued in 2019. However, in 2022, she obtained an Indian passport using her husband’s residential documents. Police discovered that she had made multiple trips to and from India using her Bangladeshi passport.
DCP Maneesh Kalwaniya of Zone XIII said, “We have arrested the woman and traced the child’s father in Vashi. The daughter has been handed over to him. We are verifying how the woman entered India and obtained forged documents to secure an Indian passport. Both Indian and Bangladeshi passports have been recovered.”
This case mirrors a recent incident reported by mid-day, where a Bangladeshi woman from Mira Road was arrested after 38 years of living in India with her Indian husband and raising three daughters.
Former IPS officer and advocate YP Singh, however, questioned the arrest. “It was inappropriate to arrest the woman immediately. She has been married to an Indian citizen for years and is eligible for Indian citizenship under the law. Her illegal entry is a separate issue and should have been handled through a Preliminary Enquiry under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023. A decision on filing an FIR should have come only after proper verification,” he said.
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