Pak woman, son arrested in Karnataka for alleged visa overstay, forged identity documents

A Pakistani woman and her son have been arrested in Karnataka's Chikkaballapur district for allegedly overstaying their visas and obtaining Indian identity documents despite not being Indian citizens, police said on Saturday.

The accused, identified as Farha Naaz and her son Mohammad Fardin Khan, were living in Dasagarepalli village in Bagepalli taluk, around 75 km north-east of Bengaluru. An FIR has been registered against them and further investigation is underway.

According to police, Farha Naaz had married Ayub Khan, a resident of Dasagarepalli village, and the couple has two children. Investigators said both Farha Naaz and Mohammad Fardin Khan are Pakistani nationals.

Police alleged that the two continued to stay in India after their visas expired and that their visas were not renewed following Operation Sindoor. A complaint was subsequently lodged alleging that they were residing in the country illegally, following which the Bagepalli police arrested them.

During the investigation, authorities allegedly found that the mother and son had obtained several Indian identity documents, including Aadhaar cards, ration cards, voter identity cards and bank accounts. Officials are now verifying the authenticity of the documents and examining how they were issued.

Preliminary findings also suggest that the two were enrolled as voters and had secured ration cards despite not holding Indian citizenship. Police said obtaining such documents without being eligible constitutes an offence.

Ayub Khan is currently employed as a bus driver in Qatar, while Farha Naaz and the couple's children had been residing in the village, police said.

The FIR was registered on a complaint filed by Bagepalli Tahsildar Manisha N. Patri. It invokes provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita relating to cheating by personation, cheating, forgery, forgery for the purpose of cheating and using forged documents as genuine, along with relevant sections of the Representation of the People Act concerning the alleged wrongful enrolment as electors.

Police are also investigating whether any officials or other individuals assisted the accused in procuring the identity documents. Further investigation is in progress.

With IANS inputs