Passport Scam in Bengal: Additional POPSK Employee Detained
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Kolkata, Dec 18 (NationPress) An additional contractual employee linked to a Post Office Passport Seva Kendra (POPSK) has been taken into custody concerning a scheme in West Bengal involved in producing fake Indian documents, such as passports, for Bangladeshi infiltrators.
Dipankar Das was apprehended late Tuesday night at his home in Behala, located on the outskirts of Kolkata.
A variety of devices utilized for crafting counterfeit identity documents have been confiscated from Das' belongings.
With Das' detention, the overall number of arrests related to this case in the past 72 hours has reached five, including three contractual employees of the Postal Department associated with POPSKs, while the other two individuals are Taraknath Sen and Deepak Mondal.
According to sources from the city police, they have also recovered forged documents from two prominent public sector commercial banks, along with photocopies of as many as 36 Indian passports and visas from a specific European country.
During questioning, Das acknowledged that his role was primarily focused on fake documents, as indicated by the sources.
He confessed to being involved in the scheme orchestrated by Samaresh Biswas, another suspect apprehended by the West Bengal Police on December 15.
Moreover, sources from the state police reported that 73 residents from Bangladesh have already been identified as having received fake Indian passports through these operations, with some currently residing in West Bengal.
Several employees from specific POPSKs in West Bengal are currently under scrutiny by security and intelligence agencies, both at the central and state levels, regarding this issue.
Informed sources stated that the state police have initiated an inquiry based on certain leads suggesting that some contractual staff associated with these POPSKs and some permanent employees of the Postal Department are serving as accomplices for these rackets, receiving substantial commissions.
