Mangaluru: Police clearance for passport verification issued to accused despite pending criminal cases!

Mangaluru: In a concerning oversight, it has come to light that Mangaluru police cleared passports for two accused in assault and sexual harassment cases. According to sources, this clearance was provided without updating critical criminal case details.

In a case filed on May 13, 2023, at Mangaluru East Police Station, Dawood and four others, were accused of assaulting a woman and her relatives at a wedding hall in Kulshekar. The complainant alleged that the accused verbally abused them, slapped the woman, pulled her hair, tore her burqa, and inflicted head injuries.

While the case was being examined in a Mangaluru court, two of the accused, Siddique and another, applied for passports. The police station, responsible for verifying the applicants’ criminal records, reportedly found no pending cases. Subsequently, they cleared their passport applications, which led to issuance by the Passport Office.

After public objections were raised, the police sent a letter with the updated criminal information to Passport Seva Kendra.

Information Update Issue

This glaring error is being blamed on the non-updation of the station’s record of criminal cases registered against the applicants during the police verification process for passport clearance. This lapse, reportedly due to a delay in updating the case information, led to the inadvertent clearance.

The police have since shared updated case records with the Passport Seva Kendra, requesting appropriate action.

Concerns Over Fake Passport Scams

This issue follows a recent case where a Bangladeshi national was caught trying to fly to Dubai from Mangaluru Airport with a fake passport. During checks, it was revealed that he had obtained an Aadhaar card illegally, which he used to acquire the passport.

Concerns about widespread fake document and passport scams in the coastal regions have been growing, prompting calls for stricter monitoring by both police and passport authorities. Additionally, there is a need to crack down on agencies involved in issuing fraudulent visas and passports, as per officials.