The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has busted a fake passport racket in North Bengal and Sikkim and arrested a senior official along with a middleman.
The fake passport racket was operational in West Bengal and Sikkim. CBI sleuths raided at multiple locations and arrested a senior superintendent of Passport Seva Laghu Kendra (PSLK), along with a middleman from a hotel in Siliguri.
CBI also seized around Rs 2 lakh and some “incriminating documents” from the hotel, officials said on October 14.
In a coordinated effort, the CBI searched some 50 places at Gangtok, Siliguri, Alipurduar, Kolkata and Uluberia in the Howrah district on October 14.
The CBI has registered a case against 24 persons, including 16 government officials for allegedly issuing passports on the basis of forged documents.
During the search operations, the agency arrested Gautam Kumar Saha, senior superintendent at the Passport Seva Kendra in Gangtok and one hotel agent with cash of Rs 1,90,000 for allegedly issuing passports on forged and fake documents for middlemen.
