Kolkata, January 12 In order to track down illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators who are frequently traveling abroad, the investigating officers from Kolkata Police and West Bengal Police are conducting parallel investigations into the rackets that arrange for phony Indian passports for these individuals as they enter the state illegally.

According to local police sources, at least 40 Indian passports with West Bengali addresses that have numerous visa entries to various other nations have been detected so far. When the residences listed in these passports were cross-checked, it was discovered that they were phony and had long been leased or owned by someone else. In certain instances, the residences shown on the passports are completely nonexistent.

According to a senior state police officer who wished to remain anonymous, “such rackets engaged in the creation of fake Indian identity documents, including Indian passports, have their tentacles spread mostly in the districts of West Bengal having international borders with Bangladesh, both land and coastal. Some of them even have their own agents, network in Bangladesh, whose task is to identify citizens there eager to come to India and help them in illegally crossing the borders against hefty commissions.”

Nine people have been taken into custody by Kolkata and West Bengal police so far in relation to the phony Indian passport schemes.

Abdul Hai, a former sub-inspector of police of the Kolkata Police, was the most recent person arrested in this case. He was mostly involved in police verification for new passport applicants during the latter years of his employment.

Investigating authorities have discovered a pattern in the way these rackets operate when they set up phony Indian passports for the unlawful Bangladeshi infiltrators. Any infiltrators who enter Indian territory illegally, get in touch with local agents, and indicate a willingness to pay large sums of money to obtain fictitious Indian identity documents are initially given safe havens in the various villages that border Bangladesh on both the land and the coast of the state. The first stage in creating additional identification papers is for the agents to set up fictitious ration cards for them. These fictitious ration cards are used to get other identity papers, such as Aadhaar, PAN, and EPIC cards. Obtaining fictitious passports with these other fictitious identification papers is the last stage.