Fake Passport Row

West Bengal Director General of Police (DGP) Rajeev Kumar on Sunday said that he had written to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) urging a total overhauling of the verification and distribution of new passports to combat misuse. Kolkata Police recently unearthed a fake passport racket and arrested at least eight persons for their alleged involvement in it. Talking to reporters, the IPS officer said in the letter to the MEA, they also pointed out software issues and proposed the idea of superintendents of police personally conducting the verification process. "We have written to the MEA requesting them to strengthen the passport verification system. We have proposed a new system where the district intelligence branch (DIB), local police stations, and senior officers will have a more significant role," Kumar said. "In the letter, we have also expressed our concerns about the distribution of passports through post offices. All the agencies must collaborate to address these ...

The group is believed to have illegally issued at least 73 counterfeit Indian passports, mainly to infiltrators, including Bangladeshi nationals, using fake documents

The CBI is conducting searches at 50 locations in West Bengal and Gangtok having booked 24 persons including government officials and private individuals for allegedly issuing passports on the basis of forged documents, officials said Saturday. The CBI has detained an official posted in Gangtok and also a middleman, they said. The FIR names 24 individuals including 16 officials who were allegedly issuing passports on the basis of forged documents to ineligible persons, including non-residents, in return for bribes, they said. The searches are spread across Kolkata, Siliguri, Gangtok, and other locations, they said.

The 39-year-old World Cup winner and his brother, Roberto de Assis Moreira, have been held in a police cell since last Friday accused of entering Paraguay using fake passports

Police also recovered 77 Indian passports, 12 Sri Lankan passports and machines used to prepare them and cash of Rs 85,000

FIR report says CBI received tip-off that unknown MEA officials have committed criminal misconduct