A syndicate of brokers and some dishonest staffers of the Election Commission had been forging national ID cards for years due to a lack of strict monitoring and loopholes in the system, found a police investigation.
The fake NID cards, each of which sold at Tk 1.2 lakh to Tk 1.5 lakh, were used in fraudulence related to bank loans and land, said people with the knowledge of this illegal business.
While issuing of a dual NID is a punishable offence, the syndicate keeps the name and photo same and changes the rest of the information.
This card is sold to a person who already has an authentic NID against that name and photo, and is used mostly in bank loan scams. In another kind of forgery, the photo is changed and such a card is used mostly for selling someone else s land.
To stop narcotics smuggling through national and international courier services, the Department of Narcotics Control has recommended National Identity Card server access for couriers.
The anti-drug authority of Bangladesh came up with the idea after it found that transnational syndicates are using the couriers to smuggle drugs into the Middle East, America, Australia and some countries in Asia.
Smuggling narcotics from neighbouring India and Myanmar, syndicates are using Bangladesh as a major transit route.
In just five months from June this year, the DNC seized around 14 consignments of drugs meant to be sent to Saudi Arabia and the US by air, Rameshwar Das, assistant director (intelligence) of DNC, told The Daily Star yesterday.