Hunt for illegal Pak nationals continues, 10 more in custody

Bengaluru: Ten more Pakistani nationals staying illegally under assumed Hindu names in several parts of the country were arrested Tuesday by Bengaluru district police. The arrests come in the wake of investigation by district police into seven Pakistani nationals apprehended in Bengaluru last week.According to police, four of the 10 arrested are men and six women. A senior officer said five of them were staying in Delhi, three in Rajasthan and two in Uttar Pradesh.The arrests were made based on information revealed by Pervez Ahmed, a prominent Indian member of Mehdi Foundation International (MFI). Police said Pervez, from Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh, resides in Mumbai and runs a furniture shop.Those arrested on Tuesday have been identified as Shafiqur Rahman, 50, Saif Ali alias Saifulla Abuja, 50, Saleem Khan, 48, Faraz Ahmed alias Fariduddin, 42, Noushin, 40, Hameeda, 48, Farzana, 53, Nusrat, 40, Mehanoor, 23, and Ruksana, 39.Pervez was picked up during investigation into the arrests of seven members of two Pakistani families staying illegally in Bengaluru last week. He was suspected to have helped the Pakistanis get Aadhaar cards, voter IDs and passports to facilitate their stay in India.Bengaluru district superintendent of police CK Baba said, "As of date, we have arrested 16 Pakistan nationals and Indian national Pervez Ahmed. Further investigation is in progress to find out how Pervez used to get the funds to pay for the illegally staying Pakistan nationals."According to a senior police officer, they caught 21 Pakistani nationals in total. Two of them, identified as Nisar Ahmed and Iram, had valid Pakistan passports and expired visas. They were produced before the Foreigners' Regional Registration Office (FRRO) for the deportation process. Two others were aged about 70 years: one was paralysed and the other suffering from age-related illness. So, they were both sent to a rehabilitation centre, the officer said. One of the arrested is a minor and has been sent to a state girls' home."During investigation, as of date, we didn't find any criminal activities of the arrested Pakistan nationals. They were only illegal immigrants involved in preaching religion as per the instructions of MFI and Pervez," the officer added.According to sources, after catching Pervez near KSR railway station at Majestic, police made him communicate with the 10 people who were staying in Delhi, Rajasthan, and UP. They were tricked into coming to the city. When they came to Anekal, a team of officials detained them. All the 10 were produced before a local court, which remanded them in judicial custody."As we need to subject them to interrogation and record their statements, we will be taking them into police custody on a body warrant by approaching the court. All 10 arrested had come to India illegally in 2007 and 2008. They had changed their names to Hindu. Pervez provided them with Indian passports, Aadhaar cards, and other documents," the officer said.