New Delhi: The CBI has smashed a passport
racket being run from the Madurai and Chennai passport offices
and arrested four officials for allegedly issuing travel
papers on the basis of "forged" documents.
It has also arrested some touts in this connection.
In the first case, CBI has arrested Geeta Bai, Assistant
Passport Officer, Regional Passport Office, Madurai and her
colleagues P Durairaj and Anbalagan.
In a similar case, the CBI arrested P Murugan, an
official of the Regional Passport Office, Chennai.
The arrests were made after the agency conducted
simultaneous surprise checks at Madurai and Chennai passport
offices regarding issuing of passports to individuals based on
"forged and fabricated" documents allegedly in connivance with the passport officials and touts.
"During surprise check at Regional Passport Office,
Madurai, various incriminating documents were recovered. It is
alleged that Assistant Passport Officer and two Assistants of
Passport Office, Madurai entertained applications for fresh
Tatkal passports based on false and forged documents through
touts and allowed to issue passports on these fabricated
documents," a CBI spokesperson said.
"The forged documents related to birth, caste, transfer,
educational qualifications and residential proofs," the
spokesperson said.
-PTI
First Published: Tuesday, February 09, 2010, 22:08