The Bengaluru police said on Monday that they had detained a 19-year-old Pakistani woman who entered India illegally to marry her boyfriend and later forged her identity to live in the city.
The woman has been identified as Iqra Jeewani, a resident of Hyderabad city in Pakistan’s Sindh province. The man has been identified as Mulayam Singh Yadav, a native of Uttar Pradesh who was working as a security guard in Bengaluru. The duo met through a gaming app.
After the arrest, the Pakistani national was handed over to the FRRO (Foreigners Regional Registration Office). She was later sent to a state home for women.
A 19-year-old Pakistani girl, who allegedly forged her identity to stay illegally in #India, arrested in #Bengaluru, police said on Sunday.
— IANS (@ians_india) January 22, 2023
The police arrested Iqra Jeevani and handed over to the FRRO officials. She was later sent to a state home for women. pic.twitter.com/iKLBfLK8bT
The duo had reportedly come in contact with each other through an online game.
The security guard had called her to Nepal a few months ago. She entered India through the porous India-Nepal border. The couple got married in Nepal and then crossed into India to reach Birgunj in Bihar and from there, reached Patna.
Yadav and Iqra later came to Bengaluru and settled in a rented house in Junnasandra, where Yadav began working as a security guard in September 2022.
Mulayam Singh Yadav secured an Aadhaar card for Iqra after changing her name to Rava Yadav and also applied for an Indian passport.
Iqra came under the surveillance of central intelligence agencies while attempting to contact her family in Pakistan. The central authorities notified Karnataka intelligence. Based on the information, authorities searched the house and arrested the couple.
Deputy commissioner of police, Whitefield, S Girish stated, “the man used to work as a security guard at a private firm and used to play Ludo online. Last year, he came in contact with a minor girl. Recently, he asked his Pakistani girlfriend to come to Bengaluru so they could get married. They made a plan to bring her over to India through Nepal in September 2022.”
The couple was living in the labourer quarters at Bellandur police station limits. “She has been handed over to the FRRO (Foreigners Regional Registration Office) and a case is filed against the man. He has been arrested,” the DCP added.
Police, meanwhile, booked Mulam Singh Yadav under Sections 420 (cheating), 468 (forgery) 495 (concealing marriage) and 471 (forging documents) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Additionally, the police also charged Govinda Reddy, the owner of the accommodation where the couple were staying, under Section 7 of the Foreigners Act, 1946, for failing to inform the police of a foreigner staying on the premises.
According to sources, further investigations are being conducted to see whether the Pakistani was involved in any espionage activity.
