CBI action continues in fake passport case, 4 more people arrested

Kolkata: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is probing the fake passport case in West Bengal and Sikkim, has arrested four more people. The total number of arrests in this regard has reached six. Sources said officials of the central agency will take all the six people arrested in the case to New Delhi on transit remand. However, the four arrested people have not been identified yet. The CBI first arrested Gautam Kumar Saha, senior superintendent of Passport Seva Mini Kendra, Gangtok, who was caught red-handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 1.90 lakh. They then arrested Varun Singh Rathore from Naxalbari under Siliguri sub-division in Darjeeling district of West Bengal, in which officers found specific leads to the involvement of a women-trafficking racket in the fake passport scam. CBI officials have so far recovered cash worth around Rs 40 lakh as well as thousands of documents like fake passports, Aadhaar cards and PAN cards, sources said. As part of the crackdown on fake passport racket, searches were conducted at 50 places in Kolkata, Gangtok, Siliguri, Darjeeling and Alipurduar in the last few days.