Racket to issue false passports to Nepali citizens unearthed by CBI in Siliguri

PRASHANT ACHARYA, EOI, SILIGURI, OCTOBER 14, 2023 : The Central Bureau of Investigation has busted a major passport racket in West Bengal and Sikkim and arrested a Senior Superintendent of Passport Seva Laghu Kendra (PSLK), Gangtok, and another person in an alleged bribery of Rs 1.90 lakh. 

The racket was involved in forging various documents to issue passports illegally to citizens of Nepal. A case has been registered against 24 accused, including the Deputy Passport Officer (DPO), Kolkata, the Senior Superintendent, PSLK, Gangtok, other public servants, private persons, said PIB release on Saturday. 

It was alleged that public servants of Regional Passport Office (RPO) Kolkata and Passport Seva Laghu Kendra (PSLK), Gangtok, had entered criminal conspiracy with others, including passport agents, middlemen. 

The accused were issuing passports on the basis of false and forged identity documents submitted by middlemen on behalf of applicants who were not Indians in lieu of illegal gratification. 

The CBI had seized Rs 1.90 lakh from the Senior Superintendent, PSLK, Gangtok while accepting the same from a private person, an agent, at Siliguri. Both the accused had been apprehended. During search, an amount of Rs. 3.08 lakh was seized from the possession of a public servant. 

The Senior Superintendent was arrested on Friday night while boarding a train for Kolkata from New Jalpaiguri railway station. He is a resident of Kolkata. Following the interrogation of the Senior Superintendent, on Saturday morning a CBI team raided the house of a resident of Naxalbari. 

When a CBI team was entering the four-storied building at Panighata More, someone from inside the building threw a bag and a file containing thousands of documents which lay scattered all over the back side of the house. 

Some of the documents were even hanging from branches of trees. When a team of newspersons reached the spot, at the back of the house thousands of documents, including Aadhaar cards, Voter ID cards, School leaving certificates, residential certificates, several passports and other documents were strewn around. 

The locals said they had no idea how the owner of the house earned money, built the four-storied house and bought luxury vehicles in a short period of time. 

According to information, the agent used to charge more than Rs 10 lakh from Nepali citizens to help them to get passports to fly to Gulf countries for jobs. Nepali citizens found it easy to fly to Gulf countries for jobs with Indian passports; hence they contacted the agent to get passports. 

Around 20 CCTV cameras were installed around the building to maintain surveillance. The agent used to manage everything alone to keep the goings-on a secret.