Andaman ex-councillor arrested for ‘issuing residence certificate to Bangladeshi family’

Former Andaman and Nicobar councillor Sanjay Meshack had allegedly issued residence certificates to a Bangladeshi family that helped them get voter, PAN, Aadhaar cards.

Representational image. | A file photo of Nicobar district police explaining the significance of physical distancing to local residents. | Photo: Twitter/@AndamanPolice

Port Blair: A former councillor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands has been arrested for allegedly issuing residence certificate to Bangladeshi nationals which helped them to acquire voter card and other Indian documents, police said.

Bangladeshi national Nayan Sarkar and his family were staying in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands illegally as their visa had expired, the police said.

Ex-Councillor Sanjay Meshack had issued residence certificates to Nayan Sarkar, his brother and parents. These residence certificates helped them to get voter card, pan card, Aadhaar card.

Sarkar was arrested by police for illegally staying in India without valid documents and Meshack was arrested for allegedly issuing residence certificate to Sarkar and his family members.

Further investigation into the matter is on, they said.

The police requested the general public to be eyes and ear of the police and report about any Bangladeshi illegally staying in the islands.

The name of the informer will be kept secret. One can contact on Phone No 233307, 232586, 100, and 9474290250 or by email at shoccs.and.nic.in.

Cooperation of general public is very vital to weed out the illegal immigrants from the Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a government release said.