Latest news with #AzadHossain
United News of India
2 hours ago
- United News of India
ED files prosecution complaint against arrested Pak national in PMLA court
Kolkata, June 17 (UNI) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a prosecution complaint against an arrested Pakistani national, Ajad Mallik, before a special PMLA court in the city, which issued a pre-cognizance notice against the accused and fixed a date for the next hearing, official sources said on Tuesday. Ajad Mallik, alias Ahammed Hossain Azad and Azad Hossain, an alleged Pakistani national, was arrested by the ED from North 24 Parganas' district of Birati in mid-April on suspicion of being a Bangladeshi national. He was allegedly involved in arranging fake documents for the Bangladeshi nationals for settlement in West Bengal and other parts of the country. Further investigation by the ED revealed that Azad Mallik was a Pakistani national and was arrested for violation of the Foreigners Act, 1946. During a search conducted by the ED on April 15 last in Birati, the agency confiscated fake documents, including that of AADHAR card, passports and other fake documents. He was also charged with hawala transactions for transferring money. Azad Mallik is in judicial custody. The ED also seized a Pakistani driving licence dating back to 1994 from his mobile phone, bearing the name Azad Hossain and featuring the photograph of Ajad Mallik alias Ahammed Hossain Azad, besides a permanent address in Pakistan. The document recorded his date of birth as August 14, 1971 and was issued by the licensing authority in Hyderabad, Pakistan. In order to conceal his true identity, Azad Hussain adopted the alias 'Ajad Mallik' and procured multiple Indian identity documents — including Aadhaar Card, PAN Card, driving license, voter ID, and passport — by submitting forged and fabricated documents. The ED also seized documents of a hawala network from Azad to facilitate illegal cross-border remittances between India and Bangladesh, collecting payments in cash and through UPI, before transferring equivalent amounts to Bangladesh using platforms like Bkash. He was actively involved in facilitating the preparation of visas and passports for Bangladeshi nationals seeking to travel to foreign countries such as Dubai, Cambodia, and Malaysia. He collected payments in Bangladeshi currency, American dollar, or Indian rupees and either deposited these amounts into his own bank account or transferred them to the accounts of associates engaged in fraudulent visa/passport processing. Azad Hossain also allegedly played a significant role in the fraudulent activities carried out at certain forex changers (FFMC) based in Kolkata, in which huge cash deposits were falsely represented as proceeds from legitimate foreign currency sales to customers but were proceeds of crime actually linked to unlawful practices, the ED said. The ED filed a prosecution complaint against the Pakistani national on June 13 in the city special PMLA court.
Indian Express
10 hours ago
- Indian Express
Kolkata: In chargesheet, ED says Pak man ran hawala network, forged papers
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a chargesheet under the anti-money laundering law against a Pakistani national, Ajad Mallik, who had been illegally living in Kolkata using forged Indian and Bangladeshi identity documents. In a statement released by the ED on June 13, it said a Prosecution Complaint (PC) was filed before the Special Court under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), Kolkata. The agency began investigating Mallik after an FIR was lodged by the West Bengal Police under Sections 14 and 14A of the Foreigners Act, 1946. According to the ED, Mallik, also known by aliases Ahammed Hossain Azad and Azad Hossain, had fraudulently acquired multiple Indian government IDs, including an Aadhaar card, voter ID, PAN card, Indian passport, and driving licence. The ED initially suspected Mallik to be a Bangladeshi national, but a Pakistani driving licence recovered from his mobile phone, dating back to 1994 revealed his actual identity. The licence bore the name 'Azad Hossain', listed his father's name as Mumtaz-ul-Haque, and provided a permanent address in Hyderabad, Pakistan. His date of birth was recorded as August 14, 1971. ED officers arrested Mallik on April 15, 2025, following a search operation that revealed his role in creating fraudulent identity documents for illegal immigrants in exchange for money. He was taken into ED custody for 14 days and is currently in judicial custody. The ED found that Mallik ran a 'hawala network' facilitating illegal cross-border payments between India and Bangladesh. He collected payments through cash and UPI in India and transferred equivalent amounts to Bangladesh using mobile payment platforms like Bkash. He was also allegedly involved in forging documents for Bangladeshi nationals seeking visas and passports to travel to countries such as Dubai, Cambodia, and Malaysia. 'He collected payments in Bangladeshi Taka, US Dollars, or Indian Rupees and either deposited these into his own bank accounts or those of his associates engaged in fraudulent visa/passport processing,' the ED said. Investigators also found that Mallik was connected to certain Kolkata-based forex firms (FFMCs), where large sums of cash were deposited under the guise of legitimate foreign currency exchanges. In reality, these were proceeds of crime linked to illegal identity creation for Bangladeshi nationals. In an earlier update, the ED revealed that Mallik's wife, Maymuna Akhter, and two sons,Osama Bin Azad and Omar Faruk,live in Bangladesh. He reportedly made frequent visits to meet them despite lacking valid travel documents. The ED said that further investigation is underway.
