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More police personnel under scanner in Bengal passport racket probe

Jan 06, 2025 05:39 PM IST

The probe so far indicates that around 150 passports were issued on the basis of fake Indian identity documents, an official said

Some Kolkata police personnel and home guards deployed at police stations over the last three years are under the scanner of the detective department of the city police probing the passport racket, of which nine people have been arrested since December 17, officials aware of the investigation said.

The West Bengal police recently wrote to the Union external affairs ministry to strengthen the passport verification and delivery system. (Representational image)
The West Bengal police recently wrote to the Union external affairs ministry to strengthen the passport verification and delivery system. (Representational image)

Abdul Hai, a sub-inspector posted at the Security Control Organisation (SCO) of the Kolkata Police till his retirement in October 2023, was the last person arrested on January 3. Eight others held earlier are civilians.

Verifying backgrounds of Indian passport applicants and keeping track on foreigners staying on visa figure among the principal responsibilities of the SCO. Hai used to verify the backgrounds of passport applicants during his tenure at SCO between 2019 and 2023, officials said.

“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 said 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 bank records have shown that 12 lakh was credited to his account after his retirement. His mobile phone, from which he deleted a lot of data after the probe started, has been sent to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory for data recovery.

The first arrest in this case was made on December 17 last year.

Days before Hai was arrested on January 3, the Kolkata Police arrested a man from Nadia district’s Chakdah area. The suspect, identified as Dhiren Ghosh, a West Bengal citizen, claimed that he lived and worked in Italy for almost a decade since 2007. It is suspected that Ghosh helped illegal Bangladeshi immigrants travel to Europe with Indian passports.

Manoj Gupta, the racket’s suspected kingpin, was arrested from Kolkata’s Behala area on December 29.

The probe has indicated that the racket helped illegal immigrants procure Indian passports.

The West Bengal police recently wrote to the Union external affairs ministry to strengthen the passport verification and delivery 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 general of West Bengal police, told the media on December 29.

The probe comes in the wake of unrest in Bangladesh over alleged attacks on minority Hindus and Bharatiya Janata Party’s allegations on illegal infiltration of Bangladeshis into India.

Several illegal immigrants have been arrested in Bengal and other states in recent weeks.

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