Pune: CBI Cracks Down on Corruption at Mumbai and Nashik Passport Sewa Kendras
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered 12 cases against 14 officials, including Passport Assistants and Senior Passport Assistants posted at the Passport Sewa Kendras (PSKs) in Lower Parel and Malad. Additionally, 18 passport facilitation agents/touts have also been implicated. The accused officials, working under the Regional Passport Office (RPO) Mumbai, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), are alleged to have engaged in collusive corruption with agents/touts.
These officers were reportedly in regular contact with passport facilitation agents and conspired with them to obtain undue advantages. This involved the issuance of passports based on inadequate or incomplete documents and manipulating the personal particulars of passport applicants.
On June 26, 2024, Joint Surprise Checks (JSC) were conducted at PSKs in Parel and Malad. These checks were carried out by the CBI, Vigilance Officers from the Passport Seva Programme (PSP) Division of the MEA, and officers from the RPO Mumbai. During the JSC, the office desks and mobile phones of the suspect officers were jointly analyzed by the CBI team and PSP Division Vigilance Officers. The analysis of documents, social media chats, and Unified Payments Interface (UPI) ID activities of the suspect public servants revealed various suspicious transactions. These transactions indicated demand and acceptance of undue advantages through passport facilitation agents for the issuance of passports, including those based on inadequate, fake, or forged documents.
The suspect officers at the PSKs, in connivance with various passport facilitation agents/touts, allegedly received significant monetary undue advantages. These were deposited directly into their bank accounts or the bank accounts of their close family members, amounting to several lakhs of rupees.
The CBI conducted searches at approximately 33 locations associated with the accused public servants and private individuals in Mumbai and Nashik. These searches led to the recovery of several incriminating documents and digital evidence related to passport documents.
The investigation is ongoing.
