Passports issued on fake addresses in Gzb villages, five held

Ghaziabad police arrested five for applying for 24 passports using fake names and addresses, revealing a larger conspiracy with more suspects involved.

Ghaziabad: The Ghaziabad police arrested five people on Sunday for applying for 24 passports in different names and on fake addresses including, villages of Bhojpur, Tyodi, Saidpur Husainpur, Atrauli, and Kalchhina, police said on Monday.

“We received a complaint letter from the regional passport office in Delhi on December 11, 2025. It came to light that the applicants used forged documents with fake addresses in three villages in Ghaziabad to issue passports. None of them resided at these addresses,” Surendra Nath Tiwary, rural zone DCP, told HT. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

Police added that 22 passports were issued so far on a single mobile number.

The accused were identified as Vivek Gandhi, 35, from Goyal Dairy; Prakash Subba, 61, from Chatarpur; Amandeep Singh, 19, Shiv Nagar resident; Satvant Kaur, 52, Shiv Nagar Extension resident and Arun Kumar, 35, a resident of Partapur in Meerut, officials added.

“We received a complaint letter from the regional passport office in Delhi on December 11, 2025. It came to light that the applicants used forged documents with fake addresses in three villages in Ghaziabad to issue passports. None of them resided at these addresses which the local gram pradhans confirmed,” Surendra Nath Tiwary, rural zone DCP, told HT.

On February 1, an FIR, accessed by HT, was registered under BNS sections of 61(2) (criminal conspiracy), 318(4) (cheating), 338 (forgery), 336(3) (forgery of electronic records), and relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act at Bhojpur police station against 25 identified, including 15 women, and other unidentified people. Police hinted at a larger conspiracy involving more people.

It was revealed that Kumar was working as a postman with Bhojpur post office for 12 years and Gandhi and Subba contacted him about five months ago.

“The two offered Kumar ₹2,000 per passport and told him to hand them over in person,” the FIR read.

Police are verifying the addresses and questioning the applicants, officials added.

“During investigation, it was revealed that 22 passports were issued so far and the addresses did not have any house or street number. The role of police personnel who verified the documents is being investigated,” Sachin Kumar, SHO of Bhojpur police station, told HT.

Police added they are investigating any lapse in the police verification process. “We are trying to arrest all people whose names were mentioned in the applications. It is likely that most of them were looking to move out of the country following ‘dunki’ routes. They were getting help by some middlemen who charged ₹1 lakh per passport. The passport authorities are taking action,” the DCP added.

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