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Passport scam: CBI raids 33 places in Mumbai, Nashik, case registered against 32 people

CBI conducted a search operation at 33 places in Mumbai and Nashik in connection with the bribery case in two Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs) in Mumbai.
By Haryana Report Jun 30, 2024, 16:29 IST

Passport Seva Kendra Mumbai: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has raided 33 places in Mumbai and Nashik on charges of alleged corruption in making passports. The CBI has registered a case against passport assistants, senior passport assistants and agents of Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs).

Officials said that the CBI conducted a search operation at 33 places in Mumbai and Nashik in connection with the bribery case in two Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs) in Mumbai. During this, many documents and digital evidence related to passport documents were recovered, which point to major corruption.

In this case, the CBI has registered 12 cases against 14 passport assistants, senior passport assistants of Passport Seva Kendra located in Malad, Lower Parel. Along with this, a case has also been registered against 18 passport agents working under Divisional Passport Offices (RPOs).

The CBI said that 12 cases have been registered against 32 people, including 14 officials of PSKs in Lower Parel and Malad and 18 passport facilitation agents. It is alleged that the officials posted in PSKs working under the Regional Passport Office (RPO) Mumbai have committed corruption in connivance with the agents.

It is alleged that the officials involved in bribery were in constant touch with the passport facilitation agents and issued passports even when there were insufficient or incomplete documents. Apart from this, passports were also issued by manipulating the personal details of passport applicants in connivance with the agents. Also, passports were made on the basis of fake or forged documents.

The central investigating agency said that during the investigation of documents, social media chats and UPI IDs of the suspects, suspicious transactions of some PSK officials have been revealed. The accused officials have taken bribes worth lakhs of rupees in connivance with various passport facilitation agents. Further investigation is going on in the matter.