Four held over fake police clearance certificates

Police arrested four members of a gang allegedly involved in producing and selling fake police clearance certificates in Chattogram.

They were apprehended during raids in different parts of the port city and Banshkhali upazila on Sunday night.

The arrestees were Mohammad Ashraf Ali Khan, 36, Mohammad Nishan, 36, Mohammad Abdullah Al Mamun, 48, and Mohammad Abdur Rahman, 46.

According to police, the gang used forged signatures and seals of police officials and even QR codes linked to a fake website cloned from the Bangladesh Police website, making the certificates difficult to identify as fraudulent.

The incident came to light after a Banshkhali resident, Zakir Hossain, paid Tk1.23 lakh to obtain a police clearance certificate quickly for overseas travel.

After receiving the certificate, Zakir submitted it to a travel agency, where its authenticity was questioned. He later lodged a complaint with the Chattogram district police.

Police said the gang had several layers, including brokers and people skilled in creating websites and QR codes. The four arrested are mainly brokers, while efforts are underway to arrest other members.

Chattogram Additional Superintendent of Police (Special Branch) Junayed Kawsar said the fake certificate was linked through its QR code to a cloned police website.

He said the gang spent only about Tk3,000 to prepare the certificate and arrange for it to be uploaded to the fake website, while pocketing the remaining Tk1.20 lakh as profit.

Police urged people seeking police clearance certificates for overseas travel to follow the prescribed government procedure and avoid intermediaries.