How did these Rohingya Muslims in Hyderabad raise Rs lakh to obtain a voter ID

Hyderabad, Aug 15: All it took was a power bill for these Rohingya Muslims to obtain Indian identification cards. Four Rohingyas were arrested in Hyderabad with Indian identification cards. Another person who helped them obtain these cards too has been taken into custody.

At the time of the arrest, the police also recovered UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) cards as refugees.

The police arrested the four persons from Balapur. Those arrested have been identified as Mohammed Elias, 31, his wife Yasmeen Aira Begum, 25, Noor Rashid 26, and Murshid Alam, 22, of Akran district of Myanmar.

The police say that these persons came to India five years back and settled down at the Wadi-e-Omar area as refugees. They had been working as construction workers in the city along with several others.

With the government getting strict with the refugees living illegally, these persons approached Mohammad Bin Omer and Ahsan Zia Ansari. Both had assured the Rohingyas of help in return for some money.

During the investigations, it was found that the duo had taken Rs 1 lakh from the Rohingyas to prepare the documents. Omer first arranged for a voter identification card, by producing an electricity bill. While doing so, he had told the authorities that these persons were living as tenants in his house. He then went on to arrange for an Aadhaar card with the help of the voter ID.

Hyderabad police officials say that this is a huge racket and they are now unearthing how many more such cases are there in the city. While probing the case, the police realised that the touts were able to arrange for valid identification cards with ease. However the police were tipped off about this case, following which a raid was conducted.

In Hyderabad there is a huge settlement of Rohingya Muslims. Intelligence Bureau officials tell Oneindia that the Rohingyas have been able to live illegally with ease, thanks to local help and also the touts who are present in large numbers.

What is more interesting is that these Rohingyas who had fled the country in distress managed to arrange for Rs 1 lakh to pay off the tout. The investigation would also focus on this aspect and try to find out if someone is funding them as well to obtain fake documents.