Delhi police arrests 59-year-old for espionage links and fake passport racket

The Delhi Police has arrested a 59-year-old man for his alleged involvement in espionage activities, including links to a foreign-based nuclear scientist and his role in a fake passport racket operating out of Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, officials said on Tuesday.

The accused, identified as Mohammad Adil Hussaini, who also went by the names Syed Adil Hussain, Nasimuddin, and Syed Adil Hussaini, was apprehended from Delhi’s Seemapuri area two days ago.

According to a police source, Adil had been in contact with a nuclear scientist based abroad and had travelled to several countries, including Pakistan. He is also alleged to have obtained three identity cards of a sensitive installation using forged documents.

Additional Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Pramod Singh Kushwah said Adil, a resident of Tata Nagar in Jamshedpur, and his brother Akhtar Hussaini are suspected of supplying sensitive information to foreign entities and obtaining multiple Indian passports using fake documents.

“The entire network was being operated from Jamshedpur, where forged identity cards and passports were prepared with the help of counterfeit documents,” Kushwah said.

During a search operation, officers recovered one original passport and two forged passports from Adil’s possession. He was subsequently arrested in a case registered under sections 61(2) (criminal conspiracy), 318 (cheating), 338 (forgery of valuable security, will, etc.), and 340 (forged document or electronic record and using it as genuine) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) on 26 October.

A senior police officer confirmed that Adil’s brother Akhtar Hussaini had already been arrested by the Mumbai Police. Akhtar had reportedly travelled to several Gulf countries and was also involved in procuring fake identity cards as part of the same network.

Investigating teams are currently verifying how many people may have obtained fake passports through the racket.

Adil was produced before a court, which remanded him to seven days of police custody for further interrogation, officials added.