More than 79K passports issued in March; Bengaluru tops list in Karnataka, Mangaluru second
Applications for new passports, renewal increase post-pandemic
Bengaluru: The Regional Passport Office (RPO) here issued its highest number of passports in Karnataka – 79,027 – in the month of March, to new applicants and to people who applied for a renewal.
The Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs) in Bengaluru issued the maximum number of passports in the state in March, with the PSKs in Mangaluru, Hubballi, Kalaburagi and Mysuru following, reports Times of India.
The application for passports had fallen drastically following the outbreak of Covid and the ban on international travel. Post-pandemic, however, the number of new applicants as well as people seeking renewal of their passports started steadily rising.
While the PSKs found it difficult to handle the high number of applications due to shortage of staff in 2021, currently, appointments for new passports and certificates for police clearance are made available at least once a week.
“Since early 2022, there is a steady hike in passport applications, the number of which has risen as people have been travelling overseas for jobs and tourism. On a daily basis, the PSK in Lalbagh receives an average of more than 1,700 applications and the process is completed for more than 1,500. At the Marathalli PSK, we get 850 applications, process about 800 applications and issue the passports every day,” said Krishna K, IFS officer at the Bengaluru RPO.
Nearly 55,000 passports were processed in Karnataka in March 2022, after the Covid problem. The number steadily increased through the year, and the period between October and December 2022 witnessed an issuance of as high as 1,97,018 passports.
Between January and March this year, up to 2,14,788 passports are learned to have been issued. The number is only expected to increase through the year.
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Retired IAF personnel arrested for alleged Pak links in Assam
Tezpur (PTI): A retired Indian Air Force personnel has been arrested in Assam's Sonitpur district for alleged links with Pakistani intelligence operatives, police said on Saturday.
Additional Superintendent of Police Haricharan Bhumij said preliminary investigation revealed that the accused had shared sensitive documents and information with Pakistani operatives over social media.
Police have seized his laptop and mobile phone.
The devices have been sent for forensic examination, though some data has been deleted, Bhumij said.
The accused was a junior warrant officer in the IAF and had retired in 2002 from Tezpur’s Salonibari base.
He had later joined the electronics department of Tezpur University, but quit.
Bhumij said a case has been registered under the relevant sections of the BNS and a local court has remanded the accused to five days police custody.
