Fake passports: KP issues lookout notices against 69
Times of India | 20 March 2025
12 Kolkata: Kolkata Police has issued lookout notices against 69 individuals suspected of having used forged documents to obtain Indian passports and flee the country. Charge sheets have been filed against 130 people involved in the fraud, but many have escaped abroad, say police. Ten of the 130 have been arrested while 120 are on the run.
The lookout notices mean that any of the 69 can be detained by govt agencies while entering or leaving Indian territory. "Evidence has emerged against 73 more individuals suspected of obtaining passports through fraudulent means," joint commissioner (crime) Rupesh Kumar said on Wednesday. However, police have not clarified how many of the suspects are Bangladeshi nationals. The document forgery case was initiated last Sept at Bhowanipore PS after the Security Control Office (SCO) flagged multiple instances of passports being issued using fake identity documents. An internal audit by the Regional Passport Office, Kolkata, first detected discrepancies in submitted documents, leading to a formal investigation. In several cases, passports were allegedly issued without adequate scrutiny.
Among those arrested was a former cop who allegedly approved 52 fraudulent applications during his tenure at the SCO.
An SIT was formed after police were alerted to 240 fraudulent applications across Bengal. Several cases fell under Kolkata Police's jurisdiction.
The accused face cheating, forgery, criminal breach of trust, and criminal conspiracy charges.