In yet another crackdown on foreign racketeers counterfeiting Nepali passports‚ the Anti-Terrorism Directorate of the Nepal Police arrested nine Myanmarese‚ four Bangladeshi nationals and a Nepali agent at Singamangal yesterday.

A special police team in civvies had fanned out in suspected areas following an intelligence input about suspicious activities of 14 foreigners and Rafid Dhuniya of Dhanusa‚ one of their Nepali agents in illegal possession of Machine Readable Passports (MRPs).

Mohammad Anwar Miya of Bangladesh and Mohammad Faiyas of Myanmar were found to have brought fellow citizens from their countries to send them abroad for jobs by using counterfeit Nepali citizenship certificates and acquiring MRPs on the basis of citizenship‚ investigators said.

After obtaining fake Nepali official documents from a Sarlahi-based forger for Rs 20‚000-Rs 30‚000 in the name of various individuals‚ they had made officials concerned to issue MRPs in their names. The forger is said to be at large.

Dhuniya used to help forge citizenship certificates and send the foreigners to Gulf countries through various Kathmandu-based manpower companies. Police said the Myanmarese and Bangladeshi nationals had entered Nepal through the Nepal-India border.

The forgers are suspected to have sent many more foreigners abroad by faking their identities.

The racketeer would also help the foreigners learn Nepali language so as to outsmart officials at the Tribhuvan International Airport.

The government introduced MRPs on account of misuse of hand-written passports and ossibility of tampering.

A police official stressed the need to curb counterfeiting of Nepali citizenship certificates and make sure that foreigners do not get MRPs using the fake documents.

Published on: 23 February 2013 | The Himalayan Times