In a shocking discovery, the Regional Passport Office (RPO) in Kolkata revealed that over 240 passports were issued based on fake identity documents in the last four months.
Sources at the RPO said that 160 of these applications were found to have forged documents. “We have spotted the errors before the passports were issued,” said an RPO official.
The RPO blamed the lapses in police verification for the issue.
“Had the police conducted proper verification of the applicants, more than 240 passports could have been stopped. These passports were issued since August, following the political unrest in Bangladesh after the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government. In most cases, we found that the Aadhar cards were forged,” said the official.
Another RPO official mentioned that the individuals who received passports based on fake documents belonged to both Hindu and Muslim communities.
An Intelligence Branch (IB) officer revealed that the agency suspects the 240 passport holders may be infiltrators from Bangladesh.
“We suspect that not only Hindu minorities but also some activists and leaders from the Awami League may have crossed into West Bengal after the unrest in Bangladesh and used forged documents to obtain passports,” said the IB officer.
Sources from the Border Security Force (BSF) reported that 148 Bangladeshi nationals were arrested between August 4 and November 30 in South Bengal. This is a seven-fold increase compared to arrests made between January and July of this year.
The RPO sends applicants’ details to local police for verification, which includes checking the documents, investigating any criminal records, and physically verifying the applicant’s address.
Sources in the police said that some officers assigned to verify applicants’ backgrounds have been calling the applicants to the police station instead of visiting their homes to check the documents.
“If an applicant is called to the police station, it’s harder for the officer to tell if the documents are fake or real. It seems the applicants for the 240 passports took advantage of this weakness,” said a police officer.
To address this, the police administration has now ordered that officers conducting verifications must visit the applicant’s home to confirm their address rather than asking them to come to the station.
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