Kolkata, June 11: The Enforcement Directorate have started tracking the sources of the documents based on which Azad Mullick, the Pakistani citizen whom ED arrested in Kolkata in April, secured an EPIC card, with which he voted twice, first in the 2021 West Bengal Assembly election and then in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Sources aware of the development said that what has kept the ED investigating officials even more intrigued is how the EPIC card held by Azad did not create doubts in the minds of the review officials during the interim revision of the voters’ list between 2021 and 2024.

The officials are in touch with the offices of the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, to get details of the documents furnished by Azad for getting the EPIC card.

According to information available with ED, Azad was enrolled as a voter of Dum Dum-Uttar Assembly constituency in North 24 Parganas district, which is again one of the seven Assembly constituencies under Dum Dum Lok Sabha constituency. He admitted this in the face of interrogation about his voting in 2021 and 2024.

The issue of foreign nationals becoming voters in West Bengal has become a politically sensitive issue in the state ahead of the Assembly elections scheduled next year.

On Tuesday, ECI ordered the office of the CEO, West Bengal, to probe the case of a man, who was active in the student ‘movement’ in Bangladesh last year, and features as a registered voter in the Kakdwip Assembly constituency in South 24 Parganas district.

The controversy surfaced after some whistleblowers highlighted the picture of Newton Das, a registered voter with Kakdwip Assembly constituency, featuring in the students’ movement in Bangladesh last year on social media. The whistleblowers and a cousin of Das also claimed that Das had dual citizenship in India and Bangladesh.

According to the Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, the new addition to the endless list of corruption under the Trinamool Congress regime is ensuring the enlistment of Bangladeshis in the state’s voters list

The case of Azad, originally a Pakistani citizen, was even more complicated. When he was arrested at the beginning of April, documents seized by the ED official then showed that he was a Bangladeshi citizen, who was residing in India after arranging Indian identity documents, including an Indian passport, by furnishing fake documents.

However, on April 29, the ED counsel informed a special court in Kolkata that in the face of interrogation, Mullick admitted that he was an original resident of Pakistan. He said he first managed to arrange a Bangladeshi citizenship for himself through the use of forged documents and subsequently, in the same manner,r arranged Indian identity documents.

Shillong, June 11: Sonam Raghuvanshi, the prime accused in the shocking murder of her husband Raja Raghuvanshi during their honeymoon in Meghalaya, was brought to Shillong under tight security and is set to be produced in court on Wednesday.

She is currently on a three-day transit remand with the Meghalaya Police.

Raghuvanshi, who surrendered before police in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghazipur on June 7, was taken to Patna by road, then flown to Kolkata and onward to Guwahati.

From Guwahati airport, she was discreetly taken out through the cargo gate and transported to the Sadar police station in Shillong, where she spent the night after a mandatory medical examination at Ganesh Das Hospital.

East Khasi Hills Superintendent of Police, Vivek Syiem, stated that the Meghalaya Police obtained six days of transit remand for the accused arrested in Madhya Pradesh and three days for those arrested in Uttar Pradesh.

“All accused are being brought to Shillong separately and will be produced in court,” he added.

Four other accused — Raj Kushwaha, Sonam’s alleged lover and the mastermind, along with Anand Kurmi, Akash Rajput, and Vishal Singh Chauhan — have also been brought to the Meghalaya capital. They will remain in custody until their court appearance.

An incident of public outrage unfolded at Indore airport as the four accused were being escorted by police.

A passenger, visibly angry over the brutal crime, slapped one of the masked accused.

The identity of the accused who was attacked remains unknown.

Sonam and Raja had tied the knot on May 11. Just nine days later, on May 20, they departed for their honeymoon in Meghalaya with a one-way ticket. By May 23, the newlyweds had gone missing.

A search operation ensued, and on June 4, Raja’s body was discovered in a deep gorge, sending shockwaves across the country.

Following days of investigation, Sonam was apprehended, marking a major breakthrough in what the police have termed ‘Operation Honeymoon’ — a 20-member special operation launched to hunt down the suspects involved in the grisly killing.

All five accused will now face further investigation under the jurisdiction of the Meghalaya Police.

Mumbai, June 10: The Mumbai Police’s Kurar unit have busted a gang of robbers and arrested four accused, said officials here on Tuesday.

During police interrogation, it was revealed that the accused are history sheeters. The gang also had a woman member.

One of the accused, Abdul Ansari alias Appu Khota, a resident of Goregaon East, has more than 47 robbery cases registered against him. The other three accused have been identified as Deepali Bhul alias Deepali Sharma, Suraj Jadhav and Akash Pawar.

The officials said that the accused, Suraj Jadhav, is an auto-rickshaw driver living in the Malad area. He used to provide information to the other accused about which houses were locked.

The gang would then target and rob those empty houses. Appu Khota is the main accused who guided his associates, said the officials.

Several cases have been registered against him at the Aarey, Dindoshi and Kurar police stations, as well as other police stations.

He has also been convicted in a previous case, according to a police officer. Khota, however, never mended his ways and continued to commit crimes.

In the particular case registered at the Kurar police, the gang stole gold ornaments and Rs 4.72 lakh cash.

According to the police, the complainant, 38-year-old Najeer Khan, resides in Malad East. The robbery occurred between May 30 and June 6, when Khan and his family were not at home and the house was locked.

The thieves broke the lock and stole 100 grams of gold ornaments, 240 grams of silver ornaments, and cash worth Rs 4.72 lakh.

After returning home, Khan found the house broken into and filed a complaint, following which the police got into action.

The police arrested the four, and after interrogation, all the stolen ornaments and cash were recovered.

The accused were arrested on June 8, and the court remanded them to police custody until June 10.