A PUBG connection that began in 2018 brought a Bangladeshi man to Lucknow to marry a woman he had met online but an alleged trail of forged Indian identity documents has now landed both him and the local operator who allegedly helped create them, in jail.
During questioning, he allegedly admitted to being a Bangladeshi national and produced two Bangladeshi passports, including one bearing a visa. Police also recovered an Aadhaar card, PAN card and Election Commission voter ID issued in his name with a Lucknow address. The police investigation has also brought his unusual route to Lucknow under scrutiny. Talha allegedly prepared a fake residence certificate and birth certificate for him, which were subsequently used to obtain Aadhaar, PAN and voter ID cards. Police later arrested Talha on Hossain’s alleged disclosure. They recovered printed copies of residence and birth certificates, electronic devices and other material allegedly linked to the preparation of the documents, besides the two Bangladeshi passports and Indian identity cards.
Mohammed Sazzad Hossain, 28, a native of Chattogram, Bangladesh, was arrested by Bazarkhala police after he was allegedly found staying in Lucknow despite the expiry of his visa and possessing Indian identity documents bearing a Lucknow address. Police also arrested Mohammed Talha, 40, who allegedly ran a Jan Seva Kendra and helped Hossain obtain the documents, read details shared by the Lucknow police. Hossain allegedly told investigators that he met a Lucknow woman while playing PUBG in 2018. Hossain came to India from Saudi Arabia on a Bangladeshi passport and tourist visa on August 18, 2023, allegedly to meet the woman. Ten days later, on August 28, the couple married in court in Faizabad, police said. The police have highlighted one apparent discrepancy: the residence certificate carried an issue date of August 10, 2023 — eight days before Hossain’s recorded arrival in India. Hossain allegedly paid ₹ 900 twice through UPI to an account belonging to Talha’s mother and also paid ₹ 2,000 in cash for the documents, according to the FIR.
Police intercepted Hossain near the Railway Colony ground in Gulzar Nagar following an informer’s tip-off, according to the FIR. Their conversations grew into a relationship and, according to police, the two eventually decided to marry. Using the allegedly forged papers, he subsequently opened a bank account at a bank’s Naka branch, police said.
