PUNE, Dec 11: A Rohingya man from Myanmar arrested earlier this year for allegedly living in India illegally had bought land in Pune area and built a house for himself and his family, investigation has found.
In July, Pimpri-Chinchwad Police arrested two Rohingya couples for illegal entry and stay in the country.
Probe revealed that one of them, Muzammil Khan (45), had purchased a small plot of land in a Dehu Road locality for Rs 80,000, and built a house using earnings from his supari-selling business, a police official said on Wednesday.
He and his wife had acquired Aadhaar and PAN cards besides Indian passports.
They had been living in the area since 2013, police found.
Khan told police he fled Myanmar in 2012 with his family, seeking shelter in a refugee camp in Bangladesh before crossing the border illegally and entering West Bengal.
After arriving in Pune, he worked in a company and later got into supari trade.
The couple acquired Aadhaar and PAN cards from Bhiwandi in Maharashtra.
The land was purchased without legal documentation from a woman named Kamble and there is no record of the transaction in official land records, the police official said.
“Khan had obtained Indian passports for himself, his wife, and two children, and was planning to visit Mecca,” the officer added.
Though he had trained as a Maulana or cleric in Myanmar, he did not seem to have put the training to use while living in Pune.
The Khan couple’s arrest followed the arrest of Ismail alias Shahid Shaikh, a Rohingya who and his wife were suspected to have entered India illegally.
Both the couples were booked under the Passport Act and the Foreigners Act. A chargesheet has been filed in the case, and the accused are currently out on bail. Authorities have initiated proceedings to cancel their passports. (PTI)
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