Bangladeshi national with fake Indian ID arrested, was working at Indian Naval Academy; employment under scanner
PTC News Desk: A Bangladeshi national working as a temporary employee at the Indian Naval Academy (INA) in Ezhimala, near Payyannur, has been arrested. With his arrest, the number of Bangladeshi nationals arrested in Kannur over the past four days has risen to six, according to On Manorama.
Kannur Police official Umesh Goyal said the accused, 32-year-old Viplav Soren, had been working at the Naval Academy for around a year. Payyannur Police Sub-Inspector Shuhaib arrested him from the academy on the instructions of Circle Inspector Mahesh K Nair.
Police are yet to confirm whether Viplav Soren is his real name. Goyal said the police would take him into custody and question him further.
Authorities have not disclosed what work Soren was doing at the Naval Academy or how he was hired. Police have also not said whether his presence at the defence establishment posed any security threat.
Five other Bangladeshis arrested
The arrest comes after Kannur Police detained five Bangladeshi women in the district over the past four days for allegedly staying in India without valid documents.
Four women were arrested on Thursday for allegedly staying illegally in Kannur and working at a spa in the city. The fifth woman was arrested on Tuesday on similar charges.
The latest case has raised questions about how a foreign national could work for nearly a year as a contract employee inside a strategically important defence establishment without his nationality being detected.
The arrests are part of an ongoing police drive against undocumented Bangladeshi nationals in different parts of Kannur district.
Probe into documents and employment
Police said the latest arrest was made based on information received from intelligence agencies.
Investigators are now looking into how Soren allegedly obtained forged documents and gained access to the sensitive defence establishment.
Authorities are also checking how long he worked at the academy, who helped him secure the job and whether the case has any wider security implications.
- PTC NEWS
