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How Three Pakistani Nationals, Living In Bengaluru, Managed To Get Aadhaar Cards

Wasn't that difficult.
Employee marks attendance through Aadhaar based System in the Planning Commission.
Hindustan Times via Getty Images
Employee marks attendance through Aadhaar based System in the Planning Commission.

On Thursday, three Pakistani nationals who were living in India under false identities were arrested in Bengaluru. Among their identity documents, there were also Aadhaar cards that all of them seemed to possess.

The two men and one woman have been identified as Khasif Shamsuddin, Samira Abdul Rahman, and Kiron Ghulam Ali. An Indian citizen, Muhammed Shihab, a native of Kerala, reportedly helped them.

So how did these Pakistani nationals manage to get Aadhaar cards?

It involved fake names and a house rental agreement.

The preliminary investigation revealed that the the three Pakistani nationals and Kerala-native Mohammad Shihab had a rental agreement for their house in Kumaraswamy Layout.

In these documents, their names were changed. The Karachi-born Samira Abdul Rehman had been named Najma, while Kirhon had become Kiran, reports The Hindu. These fake documents were used to procure Aadhaar cards.

Muhammed Shihab and Pakistani girl Sameera married each other and started living in Bengaluru after their families objected to the match. The other couple too were living there for the same reason.

According to reports, they managed to get Aadhaar cards made for as low as Rs 100.

"The information we have received so far from the accused is that they got Aadhaar cards done for as low as Rs 100. How they went about it and the documents they used to obtain it is still under investigation," said a senior police officer.

The case has thrown up yet another series of questions about the biometric Aadhaar card system. While it was meant to be solution for the forged identity cards, it's clearly not working.

The police are now trying to tracing the people who helped the family secure the documents.

"We have arrested these four persons under various section of Passport Act, conspiracy and creation of false document, misrepresentation etc. Interrogation is going on not only by state police but also by central agencies to verify all the information given by them," Praveen Sood, Bengaluru Police Commissioner said.

According to reports, the Pakistani trio crossed the Indo-Nepal border from Kathmandu a year ago. They had reached Nepal from Qatar via Muscat in Oman. Then they reached Patna in Bihar before moving to Bengaluru.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.