Cooch Behar: The Sahebganj Police Station has arrested a man identified as Omar Farooq Bepari on charges of allegedly being a Bangladeshi national who attempted to obtain Indian citizenship using forged documents. He had reportedly been absconding for a considerable period before his arrest.
According to police sources, investigators gathered substantial documentary evidence suggesting that Bepari is a Bangladeshi citizen. The matter came to light during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process, when discrepancies were detected in the documents he had submitted.
During the verification process, Bepari allegedly listed a resident of the Dinhata Nagar Bari area as his father in the SIR enumeration form and used that claim to support his application. Police said he had also prepared and submitted several forged documents to establish Indian citizenship.
The case took a significant turn when the wife of the man whom Bepari had identified as his father filed a written complaint at the police station, stating that Bepari was not her son. Subsequently, two Trinamool Congress Panchayat members from the area also submitted written complaints to the District Magistrate, alleging that Bepari was a Bangladeshi national.
Following administrative intervention in the SIR matter, police intensified their investigation and eventually tracked him down. After his arrest, Bepari denied the allegations, claiming he had been falsely implicated due to local political rivalry.
On Wednesday, he was produced before the Dinhata Sub-Divisional Court and remanded under relevant sections of the Foreigners Act.