INDIA. Mumbai: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) successfully dismantled a significant passport racket operating in the states of West Bengal and Sikkim.
The operation led to the arrest of a Senior Superintendent of Passport Seva Laghu Kendra (PSLK) in Gangtok, Sikkim, and another individual for their involvement in an alleged bribery case of Rs. 1.90 lakh on Saturday.
The CBI’s investigation was initiated based on a case filed against 24 accused, including Deputy Passport Officer (DPO) Kolkata, Tapan Das, Senior Superintendent of PSLK Gangtok, Goutam Kumar Saha, and others.
The probe began with the arrest of Saha and an individual named Dipu Chetri. They were apprehended at a hotel in Siliguri while Chetri was in the process of paying a bribe of Rs. 1.9 lakh to Saha in exchange for securing a passport.
Additionally, during the search, an amount of Rs. 3.08 lakh was found in the possession of the aforementioned public servant, leading to the arrest of both individuals.
The allegations centered around a criminal conspiracy involving public servants from the Regional Passport Office (RPO) Kolkata and Passport Seva Laghu Kendra (PSLK) Gangtok.
They were accused of issuing passports based on false and forged identity documents submitted by middlemen on behalf of non-resident applicants in exchange for illegal gratifications.
To dismantle this operation, the CBI conducted searches at approximately 50 locations, including Kolkata, Gangtok, Siliguri, Darjeeling, Alipur Dwar, Salt Lake, and Howrah, targeting the premises of the accused.
This extensive operation resulted in the recovery of a significant number of incriminating documents related to identity proofs and the issuance of forged passports.
Additionally, a raid was conducted at the residence of a passport office employee in Howrah district’s Uluberia.
The FIR named 24 individuals, including government officials, middlemen, and passport agents. Among them, Saha, Chetri, Das, and 13 other government officials were involved in this illicit passport issuance scheme.
The recovered items included fake documents, stamps of gram pradhans, and various identity documents. The identity theft and fraudulent travel documents issued by government offices pose serious security concerns, with the searches still ongoing.
The role of postal department employees, who collaborated with middlemen and passport department officials to reroute passports sent to fake addresses, is currently under investigation.
These actions aimed to ensure that the passports reached the intended individuals, adding another layer of complexity to the case.
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