A woman panchayat head in West Bengal, India, named Lovely Khatun, has been removed from her post for allegedly being a Bangladeshi citizen. The local administration said her OBC certificate was also cancelled for allegedly obtaining Indian citizenship using fake documents.
On Monday (February 25), the Indian media outlet Hindustan Times reported that Lovely Khatun, the head of Harishchandrapur Rashidabad Gram Panchayat in Malda, has been removed from her post through an administrative decision.
Locals claim that Lovely Khatun's real name is Nasiya Sheikh and she is a Bangladeshi citizen. It is alleged that she registered her name on the Indian voter list in 2015 and later claimed Indian citizenship by making a fake birth certificate.
Earlier, a defeated candidate from Malda had filed a case in the Calcutta High Court challenging Lovely's citizenship. The court directed the sub-division administration to look into the matter. After the investigation, Lovely's OBC certificate was cancelled on January 29 and she has now been removed from the post of panchayat pradhan.
It is not clear whether the police have yet taken any formal action regarding the crime. However, locals say that Lovely Khatun claimed Indian citizenship in 2018 by making a fake birth certificate and introducing a man named Sheikh Mustafa as her father. Lovely Khatun could not be reached for comment on the matter.
Locals claim that he infiltrated India after the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government came to power. However, there has been no official response from the Trinamool on this issue.
The administration says that further investigations will be conducted and legal action will be taken against those claiming such fake citizenship.
