Kolkata: The Foreigner Regional Registration Office (FRRO) has urged the Election Commission (EC) to cancel the Electors’ Photo Identity Cards (EPIC) of 22 Bangladeshi passport-holders — including two businessmen — who were found to be illegally holding Indian voter IDs and Aadhaar cards. The FRRO detected the alleged fraud during immigration checks at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, where a few of these individuals were detained while attempting to enter or leave India. All 22 were found to be Bangladeshi nationals in possession of valid Bangladeshi passports, officials said.

Although the FRRO’s communication to the EC does not specify the exact dates of their immigration attempts, the issue surfaced around the time the draft lists under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bengal were published on December 16. According to the FRRO, these Bangladeshi nationals — along with some of their family members — had been residing in India using fraudulently obtained EPIC and Aadhaar cards, often citing medical or other pretexts. “The Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) will delete the names of 22 Bangladeshi nationals from the electoral roll after due hearing. The FRRO will be informed once the deletion process is completed,” an EC official said.

Over the past two to three months, the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, has received details of nearly 3,000 Bangladeshi passport-holders suspected of possessing Indian voter IDs. According to documents accessed by The Times of India, the first such letter from the FRRO, dated February 3, detailed a case where a Bangladeshi national, along with his wife and son, approached the departure counter to travel to Bangladesh. Immigration checks revealed that the family had allegedly obtained Indian identity documents fraudulently to settle permanently in India. The same communication also named three of their relatives, all Bangladeshi passport-holders.

In another report on the same day, the FRRO informed the EC that two Bangladeshi nationals were intercepted at the arrival counter while entering India. Immigration officials found that both had earlier come to India and fraudulently procured Indian documents, the report said. A separate communication on February 3 referred to a Bangladeshi couple who entered India on medical visas but overstayed for a prolonged period. During checks, it was allegedly found that the couple had obtained Indian identity documents with the intention of settling in the country.

On February 4, the FRRO sent three more communications to the EC, flagging six additional Bangladeshi nationals who had allegedly obtained Indian IDs, including EPIC cards, through fraudulent means. One among them was found to be running a business in India and had also illegally secured a GST registration. “It is proposed that such fraudulently obtained Indian IDs may be revoked by the competent authority at the earliest,” the FRRO wrote to the Bengal CEO.

In three further communications dated February 5, the FRRO flagged another six Bangladeshi nationals who had allegedly procured Indian voter cards and other identity documents to settle permanently in India. The FRRO also informed the EC that two among the 22 individuals had managed to obtain Indian passports through fraudulent means.