Several changes are being brought in the police verification process for issuing passports to ensure no illegal immigrants can obtain an Indian passport, Rajeev Kumar, Bengal’s director general of police, said on Sunday.
Kumar said the passport application-verification process would no longer be restricted only to the district intelligence branch but will now take place with the involvement of police stations and senior officers.
Sources in the police said according to the new rules, it would be mandatory for the police to visit the applicant’s address, verify the genuineness of the documents and physically meet the applicant to match the documents submitted.
A senior officer said multiple layers would be added to the process.
Kumar said Bengal had a unique geographical location with the state sharing borders with three countries, making it vulnerable to infiltration.
“We have to understand that Bengal is the only state that shares its border with three neighbouring countries. The longest with Bangladesh, and also with Nepal and Bhutan. If anyone wants to enter the mainland of India, he has to pass through Bengal. We are aware of this and are taking strong steps,” he said.
Kumar said according to a directive, the police authorities are not required to verify the identity of the applicant in the police verification report.
“Document verification is being done at the PSK/POPSK and the police authorities are not required to re-verify them unless specifically requested by the passport office,” he said, referring to the directive.
“Maybe this was done so issuing passports becomes easier. But we are pursuing that this needs to be changed,” Kumar said.
Kumar said there were other points of concern like software issues and those related to the delivery of passports through the postal system. He said the police were coordinating with the other agencies to strengthen the system.
An internal scrutiny in the Calcutta passport office had revealed that around 240 passports had been issued across Bengal (including in the Kolkata Police jurisdiction) where faulty documents had been used for obtaining a passport and the police had apparently not raised any objection to these applications.
Based on a complaint from the passport office, Kolkata police had started a probe and found that the people who had received the Indian passports with faulty documents were mostly Bangladeshi nationals.
Eight people have been arrested in connection with an alleged racket for preparing fake documents and providing them to illegal migrants for obtaining Indian passports.