Kolkata police arrests former sub-inspector in passport fraud case
The Hindu
Kolkata police arrest retired sub-inspector in passport scam, raising questions about verification process; police custody for 14 days.
Kolkata police arrested a retired police sub-inspector in the late hours of Friday (January 3, 2025) in connection to an alleged passport scam in the city. According to the police, the accused used to work with verification processes in the police department’s Passport Section.
Top officials at Kolkata Police said on Saturday (January 4, 2025) that 61-year-old Abdul Hai was arrested at around 11.45 p.m. on Friday from his residence at Kamarpur in North 24 Parganas in connection to the investigation surrounding the recently discovered fake passport ring.
The arrest followed raids by the police in North 24 Parganas district on Friday.
Police officials added that Hai was a former sub-inspector in the Passport Section of the Kolkata Police Security Control Organisation, which is involved in issuing police clearance certificates to Indian passport applicants residing in the Kolkata police jurisdiction. He retired a year ago.
Hai is the ninth accused in this case. He was produced at a city court on Saturday and was remanded to police custody for 14 days.
Police sources said at least 150 Indian passports were discovered to have been issued, including to Bangladeshi nationals, with the help of fraudulent documents by this Kolkata-based racket. In light of these arrests, questions have been raised about lapses in the passport verification process by the police in Kolkata.
Earlier, on Sunday, December 29, the police had also arrested Manoj Gupta from Kolkata’s Behala — the seventh accused and alleged kingpin of the fake passport operation, who reportedly operated the passport racket under the guise of a travel agency.
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