Bangladeshi held with photocopy of Indian passport in Meghalaya

Shillong, May 12 (IANS) A Bangladeshi national, who was earlier jailed in the US for six years has been arrested in Meghalaya for carrying counterfeit money and a photocopy of an Indian passport, an official said Saturday.

Rashel Khan alias Islam Saiful, 32, was nabbed Saturday night from Lynkhat village in Meghalaya' East Khasi Hills district, Border Security Force spokesman Ravi Gandhi told IANS.

BSF troopers seized a photocopy of an Indian passport under the name of Islam Saiful, a resident of Naugaon (Assam), issued by the regional passport office, Guwahati.

They also recovered fake Rs.500 Indian currency notes with a face value of Rs.90,000, Rs.650 and a mobile phone handset.

During preliminary interrogation, Khan claimed that the photocopy of passport was arranged by Sarifuddin, a resident of Barpokri village in Naugaon.

Khan told the BSF interrogators that the original copy of the passport was to be handed over to him by Sarifuddin before flying over off to Saudi Arabia May 25, said the BSF official.

"We are still ascertaining his real identity. So far, he has only confessed that he has been imprisoned in Washington state, US, from 1998 to 2003," Gandhi said.

Meanwhile, the BSF have handed over Khan and the seized items to Meghalaya police.