A Bangladeshi national carrying a reward of ₹25,000 and absconding for the past 17 years was arrested by a joint team of the Uttar Pradesh Police and the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) in Saharanpur, officials said on Saturday.
The accused, identified as Zahid, son of Ahmed Fakir, was arrested near Saifan Pulia following a tip-off. Police said he was originally from Bangladesh and had been residing in Dera Bassi in Punjab.
During the arrest, officials recovered a fake Aadhaar card, a Bangladeshi identity document and other suspicious papers from his possession. A mobile phone containing photographs of an Aadhaar card and other suspected documents was also seized.
According to police, the case dates back to August 8, 2009, when an intelligence unit officer lodged a complaint alleging that several Bangladeshi nationals had entered India without valid passports or travel documents and were staying and working in the country illegally. A case was subsequently registered at Kutubsher police station under the Foreigners Act.
Police said three accused named in the case were later convicted. Zahid, however, secured bail and subsequently absconded. Non-bailable warrants were issued against him by the court, but he managed to evade arrest for nearly 17 years.
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The arrest was carried out by a joint team led by Chilkana police station in-charge Vinod Kumar and ATS Saharanpur unit in-charge Sudhir Kumar Ujjwal under the directions of Saharanpur Senior Superintendent of Police Abhishek.
ATS officials said preliminary investigations revealed that Zahid had been moving across different states to avoid police action and court proceedings. During questioning, investigators also found that he was allegedly in contact with individuals from Bangladesh, Myanmar and other countries.
Officials said further investigation is underway to verify the authenticity of the documents recovered from him and establish the nature of his contacts.
Police are also trying to identify and trace other associates who may be residing in India illegally. Additional legal action will be taken based on the findings of the investigation, officials said.
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