CBI recovers further ₹1.59 crore cash in the Passport Seva Kendra case in Mumbai

CBI conducts searches, recovers cash and incriminating evidence in passport corruption case involving officials and agents in Mumbai.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted further searches on June 30 and July 1 at the office and residence of one more passport agent based in Mumbai. During the searches, approximately ₹1.59 core in cash and other incriminating material such as five diaries and digital evidence have been recovered, CBI officials said in a press statement.

On June 28, the CBI had registered 12 cases against 14 officials including passport assistants and senior passport assistants who were posted at Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs) of Lower Parel and Malad. Cases were also registered against 18 passport facilitation agents on allegations that the officials who were posted at the PSK in Lower Parel and Malad were working under the Regional Passport Office (RPO) Mumbai, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Government of India and were indulging in collusive corruption with agents.

In its report, the CBI alleged that all the accused officials were in regular contact with passport facilitation agents and conspiring with them to obtain undue advantage in lieu of issuance of passport based on inadequate and incomplete documents by manipulating the personal particulars of passport applicants.

“These cases arose out of Joint Surprise Checks (JSC) conducted by the CBI on June 26 at PSK Parel and Malad along with the vigilance officers of the Passport Seva Programme (PSP) Division, MEA and officers of RPO Mumbai. During the JSC, the office desks and mobile phones of the suspect officers were analysed jointly by the CBI team and vigilance officers of PSP division, MEA,” a CBI official said in a statement.

“The analysis of documents, social media chats and Unified Payments Interface (UPI) ID activities of suspect public servants had revealed various suspicious transactions by some officials of PSKs indicating demand and acceptance of undue advantage through the passport facilitation agents for issuance of passports as well as to get passports issued based on inadequate, fake and forged documents,” the official further said.

The CBI investigation reveals that the suspected officers of PSKs in connivance with various passport facilitation agents were allegedly receiving huge monetary undue advantages directly in their own bank accounts or in the bank accounts of their family and friends from the passport facilitation agents to the tune of several lakhs of rupees.

Earlier on June 29, the CBI had carried out search operations in 33 locations of the accused — both public servants and private persons — across Mumbai and Nashik, which had led to the recovery of several incriminating documents and digital evidence regarding passport documents and more.