Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], December 29 : West Bengal Police has announced plans to strengthen the passport verification process to prevent Indian passports from falling into the wrong hands.
This move comes amid reports of fake passport rackets operating in the state, allegedly issuing counterfeit passports to Bangladeshi nationals.
West Bengal ADG Jawed Shamim on Sunday said that the police are taking extra security measures to ensure that the Indian passport does not reach the "wrong person."
"Passport is a process where a lot of agencies are involved. So Kolkata Police is already doing a detailed investigation regarding passports. The government of West Bengal is also writing for the change in some orders," Shamim told ANI.
He also said that West Bengal Police and Central Agencies are making efforts to maintain communal harmony.
"We are already implementing that process where additional layers of security will be increased so that the verification of every individual is done properly. All the arrangements are being implemented so that the Indian passport does not reach the wrong person...West Bengal Police, Kolkata Police and Central Agencies are making efforts so that the issue of communal harmony or any other security issue, is not compromised," he said.
The Kolkata Police have arrested seven persons so far who allegedly ran a fake passport racket, selling forged passports for Rs 2 to Rs 5 lakh each.
Meanwhile, after recent arrests of Tehreek-ul-Mujahideen (TuM) and Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) terrorists from West Bengal, Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar on Saturday slammed Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and alleged that TMC is helping the terrorists to convert West Bengal into a Muslim-majority state.
"Whichever terrorist is caught is related to someone from TMC. For the last 5 years, Mamata Banerjee has given them total freedom to commit acts against India... West Bengal has not given any land for fencing (against infiltrators). The terrorists want to convert West Bengal into a Muslim-majority state. TMC is helping them, that is why they (BJP leaders) are on their hitlist and TMC leaders are not. We have to save the country from radical Islamist powers," Majumdar told reporters in Kolkata.