In a high-profile case involving allegations of fake nationality, the Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU) of Mumbai Crime Branch will conduct a DNA test to ascertain the nationality of Reshma Khan, wife of Maharashtra BJP secretary Hyder Azam. Following allegations that Khan was a Bangladeshi national, cops have decided to compare the DNA samples of Khan with a couple from Bihar, who she claims are her parents.

The allegations about her nationality came to the fore in 2017 after a special branch found that the birth certificate used to procure her passport was forged. However, no cases were filed at that time. Later in 2020, the government asked DG Sanjay Pandey, who was heading the Home Guard then, to probe the matter. Following Pandey’s report in October 2020, a case was registered against Khan on October 1, 2021. Two police officers—the then senior inspector of Malwani police station who retired last year, and an ADG-rank officer who was the then joint commissioner of Mumbai Police (law and order)—were also booked for not registering a case against Khan even after it was certified that her birth certificate was forged.