LUCKNOW: A Special NIA Court in Lucknow on Thursday convicted four Myanmar nationals and sentenced them to seven years’ imprisonment in a case involving illegal entry into India, obtaining Indian identity documents using forged details, human trafficking and use of fake passports.Special judge NIA/additional sessions judge, Court No. 3, Umakant Jindal, pronounced the judgment.The court found Hafiz Shafiq alias Shabiullah, Mohammad Ismail, Azizur Rahman alias Aziz alias Mohammad Aziz, and Mufeezur Rahman alias Mufeez guilty under various provisions of the IPC, including Sections 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery of valuable security/documents), 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 370 (trafficking of persons), as well as Section 14 of the Foreigners Act for violation of provisions relating to foreigners.Hafiz Shafiq and Azizur Rahman were additionally sentenced to two years’ imprisonment under Section 12 of the Passport Act.The court held that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and convicted all four.The case originated from an investigation by the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), which alleged that an organised syndicate was facilitating the illegal entry of Rohingya people from Myanmar into India through the Bangladesh border.According to the prosecution case recorded in the judgment, the network allegedly arranged forged documents, including Aadhaar cards, birth and educational certificates and voter identity cards, to help illegal immigrants establish themselves as Indian citizens.Senior counsel MK Singh said members of the network were involved in human trafficking, including taking Rohingya women to Malaysia and other countries, and were also involved in financial transactions and other illegal activities.The ATS arrested Hafiz Shafiq and Mufeezur Rahman in Meerut on June 17, 2021.During searches, officials recovered a UNHCR card, an Aadhaar card allegedly obtained using false details, a passport photocopy, a list containing Indian and foreign mobile numbers and a Myanmar identity card from Shafiq, according to the court record.A mobile phone was recovered from Mufeezur Rahman.Based on information obtained during the investigation, ATS personnel subsequently went to Khurja in Bulandshahr and arrested Azizur Rahman and Mohammad Ismail. Mobile phones were recovered from both accused, the judgment states.The court noted that 13 prosecution witnesses were examined during the trial.
