“One accused person, namely Manoj Gupta… has been arrested today for being the prime accused who controlled the racket of preparing passports using fake documents in lieu of money,” said a police officer.

Manoj Gupta, born in 1984, was arrested from Gaighata in North 24 Parganas. He is accused of running the racket.

Gupta’s travel agency in Sakherbazar allegedly served as a front for his illegal activities, in which he assisted individuals in obtaining fraudulent documents. Among those previously arrested, Dipankar Das was an employee at his agency. Investigations have revealed the extensive use of fabricated documents, particularly those associated with the Kadamgachi gram panchayat in Duttapukur, North 24 Parganas, where many of the listed addresses were found to be non-existent. Most of the fake documents were prepared under the Kadamgachi gram panchayat.

The case was registered on the basis of a complaint from the Regional Passport Office, and charges include cheating, forgery, and criminal conspiracy.

This incident has brought renewed scrutiny to the passport verification process in Kolkata, following the discovery that 73 Indian passports were issued to Bangladeshi citizens on the basis of forged documents.