The Madhya Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) has significantly widened its investigation into a suspected fake passport racket, with more than 70 passports now under scrutiny and four persons arrested so far. The probe has spread across multiple districts including Bhopal, Gwalior, Betul, Chhindwara, and Pandhurna, pointing to what investigators suspect is an organised, inter-state network.

Scale of the Suspected Racket

STF Deputy Inspector General Rahul Lodha confirmed on Monday that the total number of passports under investigation has crossed 70, with a fresh addition — a passport belonging to an accused arrested from Nagpur, found to have been issued in Gujarat. The cross-state trail underscores the network's apparent reach beyond Madhya Pradesh.

'So far, a total of 70 passports are under investigation in connection with the fake passport case. We have also included another passport of an accused arrested from Nagpur, which was found to have been issued in Gujarat. The investigation is still underway,' Lodha said.

How the Fraud Allegedly Operated

Investigators say the modus operandi involved multiple passport applications being submitted using identical or suspicious addresses — a pattern that, according to officials, points to an organised intermediary network. In Gwalior, as many as 17 passports were allegedly applied for from a single location in the Semariya Tal area of Dabra. In Bhopal, 40 passports were reportedly obtained using a single address in Anna Nagar — specifically, a math (religious institution) falling under the jurisdiction of Govindpura police station.

Authorities are now verifying documents and addresses submitted alongside the applications to determine how the passports cleared official scrutiny, and whether local facilitators or agents played a role.

Who Has Been Arrested

The four arrested accused are from the Northeast, including Assam, according to officials. Their identities and personal details are currently being verified as part of the wider probe. The STF has not ruled out further arrests as investigators establish the full scope of the network's reach.

'Further action, including arrests, would follow if the ongoing investigation establishes the involvement of more persons or uncovers additional fraudulent passport applications,' Lodha said.

Inter-State Connections Under Lens

The STF is actively examining suspected inter-state links, checking whether the passports under scrutiny are connected to a single organised network. The Nagpur-Gujarat thread adds a new dimension to the probe, raising questions about whether passport issuance authorities in multiple states may have been compromised or misled. This is consistent with patterns seen in previous fake document cases in India, where centralised agents exploit administrative gaps across state boundaries.

What Comes Next

The investigation is being extended to additional locations as authorities work to map the full extent of the suspected racket. Officials say documents and address records submitted with all flagged applications will be subjected to forensic verification. The case has implications not only for passport security but also for immigration oversight, given that the four accused are from the Northeast — a region that has historically been flagged in cross-border identity fraud cases.