Fake passport racket: Police arrest kingpin from North 24 Parganas
Kolkata (PTI): Police arrested the kingpin of the fake passport racket from West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district, an officer said on Sunday.
Acting on the inputs of those arrested earlier in connection with the same case, Kolkata Police nabbed the accused identified as Manoj Gupta late Saturday night from a house in Chadapara station road under Gaighata police station limits, the officer said.
Gupta is a resident of Silpara area of Behala and was running a travel agency in Sakherbazar, he said.
"This guy has been the brain behind the fake passport racket. Behind his travel agency, he was running the fake passport racket. It is believed that the man was also involved in issuing visas," the police officer told PTI.
Earlier this month, Kolkata Police arrested a contractual employee of the postal department from Parnasree area of Behala.
Before that, police arrested two persons from the North and South 24 Parganas districts of West Bengal.
They seized several fake documents, hard disk drives, a computer, and one laptop, which were used to manufacture the fake passports.
Police had recovered several fake documents during a raid at a house in the southern part of the city's Haridevpur area.
The racket has been manufacturing fake passports, mostly to help Bangladeshis get illegal identities to stay here and roam around the globe.
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Trump says EU has until July 4 to approve last year's trade deal or it will face higher tariffs
Washington (AP): President Donald Trump has said in a social media post that goods from the European Union would face higher tariff rates if the 27-member bloc fails to approve last year's trade framework by July 4.
The announcement on Thursday appeared to be a deadline extension after the president said last Friday that EU autos would face a higher 25 per cent tariff starting this week. Trump made the updated announcement after what he described as a "great call" with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Still, the US president was displeased that the European Parliament had yet to finalize the trade arrangement reached last year, which was further complicated in February by the US Supreme Court ruling that Trump lacked the legal authority to declare an economic emergency to impose the initial tariffs used to pressure the EU into talks.
"A promise was made that the EU would deliver their side of the Deal and, as per Agreement, cut their Tariffs to ZERO!" Trump posted. "I agreed to give her until our Country's 250th Birthday or, unfortunately, their Tariffs would immediately jump to much higher levels."
It was unclear from the post whether Trump was implying that the tariff rates would jump on all EU goods or the increase would only apply to autos.
His latest statement indicates he might be backing away from his earlier threat on EU autos by giving the European Parliament several more weeks to approve the agreement.
Under the original terms of the framework, the US would charge a 15 per cent tax on most goods imported from the EU.
But since the Supreme Court ruling, the administration has levied a 10 per cent tariff while investigating trade imbalances and national security issues, aiming to put in new tariffs to make up for lost revenues.
