Some Kolkata police personnel and residential guards deployed at police stations over the past three years are underneath the scanner of the detective division of the town police probing the passport racket, of which 9 individuals have been arrested since December 17, officers conscious of the investigation mentioned.
The West Bengal police just lately wrote to the Union exterior affairs ministry to strengthen the passport verification and supply system. (Representational picture)
Abdul Hai, a sub-inspector posted on the Safety Management Organisation (SCO) of the Kolkata Police until his retirement in October 2023, was the final particular person arrested on January 3. Eight others held earlier are civilians.
Verifying backgrounds of Indian passport candidates and conserving monitor on foreigners staying on visa determine among the many principal tasks of the SCO. Hai used to confirm the backgrounds of passport candidates throughout his tenure at SCO between 2019 and 2023, officers mentioned.
“Not all passport applications are sent to SCO by the regional passport office. Many are sent to police stations under whose jurisdiction the applicants live,” a Kolkata police official mentioned requesting anonymity.
“The probe so far indicates that around 150 passports were issued on the basis of fake Indian identity documents, such as Aadhaar card, prepared by members of the racket. Hai’s signature appears on 51 files. This puts more policemen under scanner,” the official added.
Hai’s financial institution information have proven that ₹12 lakh was credited to his account after his retirement. His cell phone, from which he deleted quite a lot of knowledge after the probe began, has been despatched to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory for knowledge restoration.
The primary arrest on this case was made on December 17 final 12 months.
Days earlier than Hai was arrested on January 3, the Kolkata Police arrested a person from Nadia district’s Chakdah space. The suspect, recognized as Dhiren Ghosh, a West Bengal citizen, claimed that he lived and labored in Italy for nearly a decade since 2007. It’s suspected that Ghosh helped unlawful Bangladeshi immigrants journey to Europe with Indian passports.
Manoj Gupta, the racket’s suspected kingpin, was arrested from Kolkata’s Behala space on December 29.
The probe has indicated that the racket helped unlawful immigrants procure Indian passports.
The West Bengal police just lately wrote to the Union exterior affairs ministry to strengthen the passport verification and supply system.
“Police have very little role to play in the verification process. We have written to the MEA and we are actively pursuing it as this process needs to be changed. We have suggested a new system, in which not only the district intelligence branch (DIB) but also the local police station and senior officers will play a bigger role,” Rajeev Kumar, director normal of West Bengal police, advised the media on December 29.
The probe comes within the wake of unrest in Bangladesh over alleged assaults on minority Hindus and Bharatiya Janata Celebration’s allegations on unlawful infiltration of Bangladeshis into India.
A number of unlawful immigrants have been arrested in Bengal and different states in latest weeks.