India arrests its citizen with Bangladesh passport; police suspect militant link

Assam police have arrested a youth who, despite being an Indian citizen, visited his residence in Badarpur on a Bangladeshi passport.

It has been alleged that the youth, identified as Alamgir Hussain, 38, was instrumental in bringing tens of thousands of rupees from Bangladesh illegally.

The youth has recently purchased a house and property worth nearly Rs 40 million in the area.

Initial investigation has led the police to suspect connections between the youth and international radical Islamist organisations.

Karimganj Superintendent of Police Pradip Ranjan Kar, confirming Alamgir's arrest, said he is an Indian citizen, and a resident of Badarpur, Mission Road, but a Bangladeshi passport was recovered from his possession.

He first came to Badarpur in December 2008 on a Bangladeshi passport with Indian tourist visa. Alamgir married a local girl in Badarpur at the time and returned after spending around 20 days.

The police recovered several documents related to this.

Referring to Alamgir's initial interrogation, SP Kar said he went to Bangladesh in 1998 without any passport according to his own admission during Police interrogation.

After staying in Bangladesh illegally for some time, he managed to acquire a Bangladeshi passport and went to Singapore.

But after returning and getting married in 2008, Alamgir maintained his Badarpur connections. Finally, in 2013, he came back to live there permanently.

The police said that Alamgir had bought several properties in the area worth crores which do not match his or his family's income.

Police and other agencies had been keeping an eye on Alamgir through their sources on how he managed to acquire so much wealth suddenly.

When the Police confirmed that Alamgir had come to Badarpur on a Bangladeshi passport, he was arrested for alleged ‘anti-state’ activities.

Several members of Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), as well as anti-national elements, were arrested on earlier occasions in Karimganj district which adjoins Bangladesh border.

Police are, therefore, conducting its investigation keeping in mind all the different angles.

The SP said that the Bangladesh High Commission had been recently contacted in connection with Alamgir's arrest.

Police are also trying to ascertain the people Alamgir had connections in Bangladesh and Singapore and how did he manage to earn such a large sum of money in such a short span of time.

They are also trying to determine the identities of youths from Karimganj district who may have connections with Alamgir.

The Assam Police had stated earlier that there is a lot of interest in the state about radical group Islamic State.

A large number of people have already visited the ISIS website. However, the police have confirmed that there is no information about anyone joining this outfit till now.