2 Pak-born brothers held for getting voter IDs fraudulently in CG

Raipur: Chhattisgarh police arrested two Pakistani nationals in Raigarh district on Sunday for fraudulently obtaining voter ID cards and other Indian documents.

Brothers Iftikhar, 29, and Arnish Sheikh, 25, were nabbed in a village just hours before the exit deadline for Pakistani nationals with short-term visas. The siblings are from Karachi and have valid Pakistani passports and long term visas, said police.

Investigators have found that they secured voter ID cards by submitting false information. The duo lived in a rented house in Kodatarai village (240km from Raipur) and worked as small-time labourers. They had bank access and authorities are investigating whether the fraudulent IDs were used to access govt welfare schemes.

Raigarh SP Divyang Patel told TOI that the special branch of district police is keeping a vigil on outsiders. During a search operation to identify illegal foreigners in the district, Raigarh police got a tip-off about Iftikhar and Arnish. An inspection of their documents revealed that their passports and visas were authentic, but the voter ID cards were obtained fraudulently.

Police registered a case against them under BNS sections for forgery, using false declarations and cheating by personation. They were produced in court and remanded in jail.

Police have found that the siblings' mother was originally from Pakistan, but married an Indian citizen from Raigarh. She returned to Pakistan for childbirth. As both Iftikhar and Arnish were born in Karachi, they were not Indian citizens and thus ineligible for Indian voter IDs.

Chhattisgarh home department has launched an intensive verification drive across the state, particularly in urban hubs, where a significant number of Pakistan-origin individuals reside, officials said.

Chhattisgarh's deputy chief minister Vijay Sharma, who is also the home minister, said that the home department is seeking guidance from the chief minister to lay out a specific process to investigate people who have come to India from Pakistan and may be trying to conceal their identity.

The arrest comes against the backdrop of heightened scrutiny of Pakistani nationals residing in India following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack in Kashmir that killed 26 people. In response, Indian govt revoked visas for many categories of Pakistani nationals and ordered their immediate departure. The deadline for most categories expired on April 27, while medical visa holders have until April 29 to return to Pakistan.