Mumbai: The Mumbai Crime Branch’s probe into the fake Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) scientist case has widened, exposing a sophisticated document forgery racket spanning Mumbai, Delhi, and Jharkhand. The main accused, Akhtar Hussain Qutubuddin Ahmed alias Alexander Palmer (60) arrested from Versova’s Yari Road earlier this mont has now been linked to multiple fake identity operations involving his brother and other associates.

According to police sources, Delhi Police’s Special Cell has arrested Akhtar’s brother, Adil Husaini alias Syed Adil Hussain alias Mohammad Adil Husaini alias Naseemuddin, from the Seemapuri area of Delhi. Adil was found in possession of multiple fake passports and other forged documents. The Delhi Police confirmed that the arrest followed intelligence inputs shared by the Mumbai Crime Branch.

Investigations have revealed that Adil was deeply involved in creating fake passports and identity cards using counterfeit Aadhaar cards and supporting documents. One original and two forged passports were recovered from him. Preliminary findings indicate that Adil not only created these forgeries but also used them for international travel, including to Pakistan and other countries, raising suspicions of possible links with foreign atomic agencies.

Meanwhile, the Mumbai Police Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU) has arrested another accused, Monazir Khan (34), from Jamshedpur, Jharkhand. He allegedly supplied forged documents including fake BARC ID cards, Aadhaar, and educational certificates to Akhtar Hussain. When produced before the court for the second time, Monazir was remanded to police custody until November 1, while Akhtar has been sent to judicial custody.

During interrogation, Akhtar had falsely claimed that his brother Adil was dead. His subsequent arrest in Delhi, however, disproved this.

Investigators suspect that Monazir Khan prepared Adil’s fake passport in 2016 using documents linked to an address in Jamshedpur that Akhtar had sold years earlier. The passport verification process reportedly failed to detect the discrepancy a lapse now under review by Jharkhand Police and passport authorities.

Further investigations have shown that Akhtar used at least three fake passports under the name Alexander Palmer, along with bogus PAN cards, Aadhaar cards, driving licences, and mark sheets from the Bihar Intermediate Education Board and Biju Patnaik University of Technology (Odisha). Authorities also recovered documents related to nuclear technology and maps suspected to contain sensitive data.

Forensic analysis of Akhtar’s phone revealed his use of advanced tools such as Super VPN Pro to mask his location while traveling under false identities across India and abroad since 2015.

A case has been registered at Versova Police Station under Sections 319(2), 336(2), 337, 338, and 340(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and Sections 61(2) and 12(1)(b) of the Passport Act. Both Mumbai and Delhi Police are coordinating with Jharkhand authorities to determine how these forged documents passed scrutiny and whether official collusion was involved.

Officials believe the case points to a high-level forgery network operating under the guise of scientific and government identities, raising concerns of potential national security breaches linked to the fake BARC credentials.

Mumbai: A 22-year-old man, identified as Varun Prasad Kamble, a resident of Ramabai Colony, Ghatkopar (East), died in a road accident at Tilak Nagar, Chembur, early Tuesday morning. His friend, Abhijeet Mangesh Sapkal, 20, sustained multiple injuries in the crash.

According to the statement given by the injured Sapkal to the Tilak Nagar police, both he and Kamble were unemployed at the time of the incident. Sapkal had previously worked at Garden Hotel in Bandra-Kurla Complex, while Kamble was employed with a diamond company in Andheri before taking a month-long leave.

According to the FIR, on the evening of October 27, around 7 to 8 p.m., the duo borrowed their friend Rahul Binde’s NTorq scooter (MH-03-DH-4705) and went drinking at Nokia Bar on P.L. Lokhande Marg, Chembur. Kamble was allegedly already intoxicated when he arrived. They were later joined by three other friends at the bar. The group also visited another establishment, Sridevi Bar, located opposite the first one.

After returning to their neighborhood around 12.30 a.m., the friends chatted for a while before dispersing. Kamble and Sapkal then decided to ride to Kurla (West) for a late-night snack of bhurji pav. At around 2 a.m. on October 28, the two reached the Kohinoor area in Kurla (West) but couldn’t find any food stalls open.

Kamble then insisted on driving the scooter, to which Sapkal agreed. While returning towards Ramabai Colony, at around 2.30 a.m., Kamble lost control of the vehicle on the LTT Bridge, SCLR Road, Tilak Nagar, and the scooter skidded after hitting a road divider.

Sapkal sustained injuries to his head, hands, shoulders, leg, and nose, while Kamble, who was not wearing a helmet, suffered a severe head injury and fell unconscious. Both were rushed to the Rajawadi Hospital, where doctors declared Kamble brought dead.

The Tilak Nagar police have registered a case based on Sapkal’s complaint. Kamble has been booked posthumously under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Act, and the Motor Vehicles (MV) Act, for rash and negligent driving under the influence of alcohol, leading to his own death and injuries to another person.

Kolkata, Oct 29: A 60-year old man, Khairul Sheikh, a resident of Dinhata in Cooch Behar district of West Bengal, allegedly tried to commit suicide by consuming poison on Wednesday reportedly out of the fear of getting his name deleted from the voters’ list following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in the state, the groundwork for which will start from November 4.

His family members have told the police and the media persons that, although the name of Sheikh was in the voters’ list of 2002, the year when the SIR was conducted in West Bengal for the last time, the spelling of his name was incorrect in that list.

According to Shaikh’s family members, he was scared that because of the mistake in the spelling of his name in the 2002 list, his name might be deleted from the voters’ list.

Confirming the development, the new District Police Superintendent, Sandip Karra, told media persons that as per the versions of Sheikh’s family members since the SIR was announced for West Bengal by the ECI earlier this week, he started panicking.

“The police have started an investigation into the matter. He is currently under treatment. We will investigate him after he recovers and get to know from him the reasons behind his act,” Karra said.

Trinamool Congress’ Cooch Behar district president, Avijit Dey, said that the incident is proof of what kind of panic is there among the common people over the SIR.

“What I heard is that some people told Sheikh that because of the mistake in the spelling of his name in the 2022 list, his name will be deleted from the voters’ list following the fresh SIR, and he will also be deported to Bangladesh. Out that fear he tried to commit suicide,” Dey added.

The BJP legislator from Cooch Behar (Uttar) constituency, Sukumar Roy, said that even if the fear factor prompted Sheikh to attempt suicide, Trinamool Congress is responsible for that since the party is responsible for spreading a false sense of fear among people about the SIR.

On Tuesday, a 57-year-old man, identified as Pradeep Kar, committed suicide at Panihati in North 24 Parganas district, reportedly out of fear of being affected by a possible National Register of Citizens (NRC) in West Bengal.

BJP had already raised doubts about whether the suicide note recovered from near his body was actually written by the deceased person and also demanded a proper investigation into the actual reason behind the suicide.

On Tuesday, both the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Trinamool Congress’s General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee accused the BJP and the Union government of spreading a sense of fear and division by using NRC as a tool, where people are often made to doubt their own right to existence, the reflection of which was felt in the suicide of Kar.

Since the beginning, Trinamool Congress leadership had been describing the SIR as an indirect ploy by the BJP and the Union government to impose the NRC in West Bengal.