RPO writes to DGPs of Haryana, Punjab over fake passport cases

Parveen Arora

Karnal, February 10

After surfacing of flaws in the police verification that led to making of passports on fake documents across the region, the Regional Passport Officer (RPO), Chandigarh, has written to the DGPs in Haryana, Punjab and UT for the implementation of complete police verification process of the applicant.

Visit residence of applicants

The police official has to verify the address and documents by visiting the house of the applicant and inquire from the neighbours. I have written to DGPs for the implementation of the complete verification to check malpractice. Sibash Kabiraj, Regional passport officer, chandigarh

The RPO said ensuring proper procedure would help in tightening the noose around fraudsters.

As many as 200 passports, which were made with the help of fake documents such as address proof, qualification certificate and others, have been detected in the region. Of them, 160 were from Punjab and 40 from Haryana.

In the past week, 21 cases of passports made on fake documents have been detected in Karnal. Earlier, some cases also surfaced in Fatehabad and Ambala, the police said.

The RPO has suggested that during the police verification, the official must visit the residence of the applicant and inquire from neighbours as well whether the applicant was a resident of the area or not.

As per the sources in the Police Department, at present, in majority of cases, instead of going to the residence of the applicant, the police called the applicant along with two witnesses to the police station for completing the verification process.

“The police official has to verify the address and documents by visiting the house of the applicant and inquire from the neighbours. I have written to Haryana, Punjab and UT DGPs for the implementation of the complete police verification to check malpractice,” said Sibash Kabiraj, 1999 batch Haryana cadre IPS officer posted as RPO at Chandigarh.

He also suggested the use of Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) to check the crime record of applicant instead of checking it manually only at one police station.

“The crime record of the applicant has to be checked with the help of CCTNS. Presently, the police are verifying the record only at the local police station. The CCTNS verification will verify whether the applicant has any criminal record across country. It will help us to determine the complete criminal history of the applicant,” Kabiraj added.