CBI arrests 4 more people in fake passport case

Kolkata, Oct 16 : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), probing the fake passport case in West Bengal and Sikkim, on Monday, informed that four more persons have been arrested in the matter.

With this the total number of arrests in this connection stands at six.

Sources said that the central agency sleuths will take all the six arrested in the case to New Delhi on transit remand.However, the identities of four persons, who were arrested later, are yet to be known.

CBI first arrested Gangatoks Passport Seva Laghu Kendra Senior Superintendent Goutam Kumar Saha, who was caught red-handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 1.90 lakh.Next they arrested Varun Singh Rathor, from Naxalbari under Siliguri sub-division in Darjeeling district of West Bengal, from whom the sleuths got specific clues of involvement of women-trafficking racket in the fake passport scam.

Sources said, the CBI sleuths have so far recovered cash worth around Rs 40 lakh, along with thousands of incriminating documents like fake passports, AADHAR cards and PAN cards.

As part of the crackdown on the fake passport racket, searches were conducted at 50 places in Kolkata, Gangtok, Siliguri, Darjeeling, and Alipurduar over the last couple of days.

src/uk