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Pune top cop orders crackdown on passport agents

Move will curb forgeries, prevent duping of citizens

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After the recent case of a duo travelling on fake passports from Pune was held at Sharjah airport in the United Arab Emirates, city police commissioner Gulabrao Pol has ordered all police stations to take action against private passport agents and submit monthly reports. The order is a blessing in disguise because these agents cheat citizens of up to Rs15,000 by offering to get the passports. Once the illegal activity is halted, people will get passports through the regular channel and their documents will also not be misused.

The commissioner said such an order will help curb incidents of fake passports, where verifications are thrown to the wind in cases of “urgent” passports. Agents charge between Rs1,500 to 15,000 for issuing immediate passports in Pune. 

The two foreign nationals caught with fake passports were identified as Ansari Mahboob Alam (24) and Gazi Nazbul Hasan (23) from Myanmar. They were arrested by the Airport police following their deportation from Sharjah on September 24. The duo was charged with travelling on fake Indian passports.

Regional passport officer Shakuntala Rane told dna, “Passport agents were banned in 2012 under the new online system of passport applications introduced by the ministry of external affairs. Initially, we used to maintain their records, but now we don’t have any idea about them. In the current system, an applicant has to apply online first and later has to come personally with documents for further process.”

The Pune police are of the opinion that a special drive against such agents has to be conducted in the city.  “It is a serious issue. Many times we have seen that the private agents charge people exorbitantly. If someone applies for immediate passport, they charge the applicant Rs15,000,” an officer of the rank of deputy commissioner of police (DCP) told dna on condition of anonymity.

However, the Pune police wonder how these agents promise an immediate passport when there is a procedure that has to be followed. “The passport agents can also misuse the documents of an applicant. So this move by the commissioner is necessary,” the officer added.

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