Monitor NID applications to stop false passports for Rohignyas: Authority

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Humayun Masud, Chattogram
Published : 00:20, Sep 09, 2019 | Updated : 00:22, Sep 09, 2019

On Thursday, Sept 5 night, three Rohingyas were detained in Chattogram as they tried to go to the Turkish Embassy in Dhaka.Rohingyas are regularly being caught in Chattogram while furnishing false addresses for passports. After being arrested they confessed that for a certain amount, brokers made fake passports, with a false birth certificate and NID. Meanwhile, the passport office says that if police are more alert during verification, this exercise will stop.
Police say that the verification is done properly and blamed instead the local public representatives and officials of the election commission.
On Thursday, Sept 5 night, three Rohingyas were detained in Chattogram as they tried to go to the Turkish Embassy in Dhaka.
The arrested Rohingyas have said that they took the help of brokers to have the fake passports made and paid Tk 255,000.
On Sept 1, another person was detained at the Shahjalal International Airport while he was going to Saudi Arabia.
Passport office sources say that in the last five months, at least 80 Rohingyas were arrested while they tried to have passports made.
Passport office sources say that in the last five months, at least 80 Rohingyas were arrested while they tried to have passports made.Deputy Director of Mansurabad divisional passport office, Abu Sayeed, said: “If Rohingyas fill up all the necessary papers then it’s difficult to catch them. We can only catch them when their statements or narratives seem incongruous.”
If police and authorities are alert during the verification and handing out NIDs, Rohingyas will not be able to make false passports.
Metropolitan police deputy commissioner Abdul Warish, says: “Police verification is the third step; prior to that, Rohingyas collect the birth certificate and citizen’s document from public representatives.”
The process of giving NIDs needs to be strictly monitored, he added.
On Aug 18, Ramjan Bibi was caught trying to collect a smart card and from the NID taken from her possession, the investigation committee found 73 suspicious applications.
However, the Election Commission has not been able to detect from which office these were uploaded.
District election official, Munir Hossain, said: “While checking Ramjan Bibi’s NID, we came across 73 applications which were not corroborated by any documents; we are not sure how these were put up on the server.”
When public representatives identify anyone as a local, officials do not have anything to do; therefore, public representatives need to be cautious, he observed.

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