3 Rohingya Muslims held for obtaining Aadhaar, voter ID illegally

Three Rohingya Muslims, including a woman, have been arrested at Balapur in Hyderabad for obtaining Aadhaar cards, voter ID cards, PAN cards and Indian passports by allegedly submitting fake documents, police said on Thursday.

The trio migrated to Hyderabad in 2013 from Myanmar as refugees but suppressed their identity and fraudulently got the identification documents, they said.

They colluded with locals to make false bonafide certificates based on which false declarations were made before government officials by suppressing facts that they were Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar, V Saidulu, a police official said.

The accused claimed to be Indian citizens in their applications and procured Indian passports, Aadhaar cards, voter ID cards, PAN cards, driving licence and also opened bank accounts, he said.

Preliminary investigation revealed the three had not registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), he added.

Cases were registered against the accused under relevant sections of IPC and Indian Passport Act.

Hyderabad is home to an estimated 3,500-4,000 Rohingyas, who stay in camps in different parts of the city.