Crime Top News

Telangana CID arrests three more in fake passports case in Chennai

Passport

HYDERABAD: In addition to 23 accused earlier, Crime Investigation Department (CID) officers of Telangana have significantly advanced the fake passports case by apprehending three additional suspects. This brings the total number of arrested suspects to 26. The most recent arrests involve two Sri Lankan nationals and one facilitator from Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu.

The Sri Lankan nationals, Varuniya Thiruvanavukkarasu, aged 30, and Sanjika J, aged 29, were arrested in Chennai. They had obtained Indian passports and attempted to travel out of India. Additionally, the mediator Priya Dharmalingam, aged 41, from Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, was also arrested and produced before the Hon’ble court. She facilitated around 21 Sri Lankan nationals in obtaining Indian passports by conspiring with passport agents.

Modus operandi of the passport fraud

The accused Abdus Sattar Osman Al Jahwari and other passport agents created fake identity cards. Which includes Aadhaar cards, voter ID cards, ration cards, birth certificates, and educational certificates, for Sri Lankan nationals. They submitted more than 125 passport applications at different Post Office Passport Seva Kendra (POPSK) centers in Telangana. They managed to bribe Passport Seva Kendra employees, Special Branch (SB) Police officials, and postal officials to process these applications using fake documents. The passport agents collected heavy amounts from the Sri Lankan nationals, who are seeking Indian passports.

So far, the CID has arrested 26 individuals in this fake passports case, including 16 passport agents, six officers from Special Branch, one Passport Seva Kendra employee, and three Sri Lankan nationals. During the investigation, the CID seized 108 Indian passports, 33 mobile phones, five laptops, five CPUs, three printers, 11 pendrives, one scanner, and 82 rubber stamps from the accused.

The investigation is ongoing to collect more evidence and apprehend other connected individuals. Special teams of the CID, under the direction of Smt. Shikha Goel IPS, Additional Director General of Police, CID, Telangana, Hyderabad, are carrying out the investigation.