WB passport scam: CBI arrests four officials
New Delhi (PTI): The CBI has arrested four officials of the Regional Passport Office in Kolkata in connection with a racket in which passports were issued to Nepalese citizens based on forged documents, officials said.
The arrested officials -- senior passport assistants Uttam Kumar, Debasis Bhattacharjee and Nishit Baran Saha and stenographer Manish Kumar Gupta -- were presented before a special court in Gangtok recently, which remanded them to CBI custody till October 25, they said.
The agency had earlier arrested two RPO officials and four agents in connection with the matter.
The officials were allegedly part of the racket, which had processed 60 passport applications of Nepalese citizens based on forged Indian identity cards showing them as locals in two months in exchange for hefty bribes.
The CBI had alleged that the applications were collected by middlemen, who would also prepare fake identity cards for the Nepalese citizens and submit the applications at the Passport Laghu Seva Kendra in Gangtok, where RPO, Kolkata officials were posted on a rotational basis.
The agents, in collusion with passport department officials, managed police verification and postal officials, the CBI has alleged.
Once processed, the agents bribed the postman who would deliver the passport to them and not the fake address mentioned on the application. The agents allegedly handed over these passports personally to the applicants and collected the payments and distributed them among the officials in Gangtok, Siliguri and Kolkata.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
CPI leader attends RSS-organised Hindu meet, district unit seeks clarification
Manjeshwar: The participation of a CPI leader in a Hindu convention organised by the RSS has triggered discussion in political circles.
Sundari Shetty, former president of Meenja panchayat and a district committee member of the CPI in Kasaragod, attended the Hindu gathering held in Meenja. She offered floral tribute to a portrait of Bharat Mata and also addressed the gathering from the stage, which has led to controversy.
Following the development, the CPI district unit has issued a notice to Sundari Shetty seeking an explanation. Party sources said that the presence of a senior leader of a party that follows communist ideology at a Hindu convention has caused unease within the party.
There are indications that disciplinary action may be initiated against her in connection with the incident.
