The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has arrested five people in Dhaka on charges of forging and supplying fake NIDs and driving licenses, particularly to motorcyclists, according to bdnews24.com.
In a press briefing on Tuesday, Commander Khandaker Al Moin, director of RAB's media wing, said, “They put these documents together in a manner which was initially indistinguishable from the real thing.”
The arrestees - Golam Mostafa, 60, Jalal Bashar, 54, Muslim Uddin, 65, Minarul Islam Minni, 22, and Tareq Mridha - were nabbed from Malibagh, Basabo, Shahjahanpur and the Kotwali Police Station area on Monday.
The mastermind of the group is Mostafa, who has been involved in similar crimes since 2010, Moin said.
“Another active member of the ring is abroad, performing the Umrah pilgrimage.”
Terrorists, militants and Rohingya people also collected NIDs and licences from the group, according to the RAB.
Members of the ring would target individuals in front of the BRTA and Election Commission every day and also promote their trade on social media, which caught the attention of RAB’s cyber monitoring cell.
“The group charged Tk 3,000-Tk 10,000 to those seeking NIDs and driving licenses urgently depending on the situation,” Moin said.
App-based ridesharing motorcyclists were their main targets, he added.
“Nothing could be done if they swindled anyone, and many accepted the risk to get their fake documents quickly.”
During the initial interrogation, Mostafa revealed that they supplied 30-50 documents each month, delivering each NID or license within three to seven days according to the customer’s demand.
“Mostafa served jail sentences multiple times over this. He recruited members of the group as employees and replaced his crew every few years.”