Police sources said Gul, who came to Kerala as a migrant worker, was employed as a helper at the shipyard's welding works. He was hired by contractors, and not directly associated with the shipyard, they said.

Source said one of Gul’s relatives, who also worked in Kochi, had accidentally revealed his Afghan origin.

Kerala Police have arrested a 22-year-old Afghan national, who had been working at Cochin Shipyard in Kochi for two years, for allegedly forging documents to show that he is from Assam and for visa violation.

Id Gul alias Abbas Khan went missing 20 days ago after the shipyard lodged a complaint with the police following a tip-off about his Afghan origin. He was nabbed by Kochi city police from Kolkata’s Bowbazar area. On Wednesday, a local court in Kochi remanded Gul in judicial custody.

Police sources said Gul, who came to Kerala as a migrant worker, was employed as a helper at the shipyard’s welding works. He was hired by contractors, and not directly associated with the shipyard, they said.

“His father is an Afghan and mother from Assam. In 2019, he fled Afghanistan and came to India under a three-month medical visa but went into hiding after the visa expired,” said a source in the police. “He had been to Assam, where his mother’s relatives lived, for a short period and then moved to Kerala with forged nativity documents as a migrant worker from the Northeast.”

A source said one of Gul’s relatives, who also worked in Kochi, had accidentally revealed his Afghan origin. Subsequently, the shipyard authorities ran a check on the workers hired by the contractors and found discrepancies in his personal details.