BENGALURU: Police on Thursday arrested a Pakistani couple and detained their daughter, 17, in a crackdown on foreigners living illegally in Bengaluru under assumed Hindu names. Police seized 3 mobiles, Aadhaar cards, passports, a PAN card, and two voter IDs – all obtained using fake documents.
Syed Tariq, 53, and his wife Anila, 48, were arrested, while their daughter was detained after another arrested Pakistani national revealed their whereabouts.Rashidh Ali Siddakki, 48, living illegally under the alias Shankar Sharma, was arrested recently with his Bangladeshi wife and her parents.As per police, preliminary probe revealed that Tariq’s family entered India illegally eight years ago. Initially living in Kochi, they relocated to Bengaluru four years ago. Tariq is a preacher who mostly shares sermons on YouTube, while his wife is a homemaker.
The family’s stay was allegedly financed by Altaf Ahmed, who was arrested in Chennai with his wife and two others for using forged documents. “Altaf used to pay Tariq Rs 25,000 a month for his preachings on behalf of Mehdi Foundation International,” said police.
Police are now probing the funding routes for illegal Pakistani immigrants and working to track down more Pakistanis who may be residing illegally in Karnataka.