Accused lived in India for 8 years under false identities; police launch further investigation
Durg, May 15 – A 25-year-old Bangladeshi national, identified as Panna Bibi, has been arrested for residing illegally in Chhattisgarh’s Durg district under a fake identity for the past two years, police officials confirmed on Thursday.Bibi had reportedly entered India illegally around eight years ago through the Bongaon-Petrapole border in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district without a valid passport or visa. After initially residing in Kolkata's Sonagachi area under the alias Kakoli Ghosh for five years, she later moved to Delhi and assumed another fake identity: Anjali Singh.
According to Durg Superintendent of Police Vijay Agrawal, a special task force (STF) led by Satya Prakash Tiwari, City Superintendent of Police (Bhilai Nagar-Durg), was formed to trace illegal residents of Bangladeshi and Rohingya origin. Acting on a tip-off, the STF apprehended Bibi on Wednesday from a rented house in Supela, where she had been living for two years.
During initial questioning, Bibi produced an Aadhaar card under the name Anjali Singh, claiming to be a resident of East Delhi. However, inconsistencies in her statements and documents led to further interrogation, during which she confessed her real identity and origin in Didhirpar village, Khulna district, Bangladesh.
Further investigations revealed that Bibi maintained constant contact with her family in Bangladesh through over a dozen mobile numbers and had made multiple illegal cross-border trips using the same route.
Authorities also discovered that she availed medical treatment in India using forged identity documents. She has been booked under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Foreigners Act 1946, and the Indian Passport Act 1920.
The police also stated that legal proceedings would be initiated against her landlord, Suraj Sao, for failing to report her tenancy to the local police.
The case remains under investigation as authorities continue to trace the extent of her activities and any potential network involvement.
