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The Central Bureau of Investigation on Thursday (CBI) arrested two accused, including a Junior Passport Assistant working at the Passport Seva Kendra (PSK), Lower Parel, Mumbai, and an agent, in connection with a corruption case involving the issuance of passports based on fake documents in exchange for bribes.
A case was registered by CBI against the Office Assistant/Verification Officer at PSK Lower Parel and other private persons working as passport agents. The FIR alleges that during 2023-2024, the accused public servant entered into a criminal conspiracy with others to obtain undue advantage for passport-related work. In furtherance of this conspiracy with the agent and other unknown persons, the accused public servant facilitated the issuance of fake passports for unknown applicants using forged documents. Investigation revealed that seven unknown persons submitted forged documents such as Aadhaar card copies, PAN card copies, bank account statements, and birth certificates as address and identity proofs in the Passport Office. All these documents were found to be forged. Communication chats between the accused public servant and the agent showed discussions about the payment of bribes for these fake passport applications. Investigation also found that the mobile numbers provided by applicants in the applications were not in service. Police verification reports conducted after issuance of passports under the Tatkaal Scheme, which waived police verification at the time of issuance, were found to be adverse. The addresses given on the passport applications were fake. Both were arrested because the accused were evasive and did not cooperate during the investigation. They were produced before the Special CBI Court, Mumbai, and sent to police custody for five days, till June 2, 2025. The accused arrested are Akshay Kumar Meena, Junior Passport Assistant, and Bhavesh Shantilal Shah, an agent (private person). The investigation is ongoing. (ANI)
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