DHAKA--Issuance of blank passports by different passport offices across the country poses a serious threat to national security, police officials have told New Age.A top police official said the issuance of such blank passports leaves the scope open for ‘enemies of the state’ to take advantage of the lapse and threaten national security. He said, ‘The passports are neither fake nor duplicate, and that is why anyone willing to do so can easily misuse it.’
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The Special Branch of Police on July 27 recovered 12 blank passports, 30 photo change passports, 80 rubber seals of different local and foreign offices, and 100 passport covers from a house at Shankharipatti in Old Town. During the investigation of the incident, they found that passport officials are involved in issuance of forged passports and visas with the connivance of some foreign nationals and local agents.
The police arrested one Jayanta Das along with three others in connection with the July 27 incident. Jayanata was earlier arrested twice on charges of forging passports.
The police during the investigation also found involvement of a Malaysian citizen, Roshdi Bin Awang, with the syndicate. Roshdi has been in Dhaka since July 18, but the police failed to arrest him from his hotel suite at Baridhara where he had stayed till August 2.
The police became sure that some officials at the passport office are involved in the forgery of passports, and asked the passport offices to send them the application forms and other relevant documents of the blank passports. Though the authorities concerned claimed that they had issued the passports under proper regulation, police officials said the passport office issued the blank passports bypassing proper procedure, and without any verification.
An organised syndicate is supposed to be involved in such illegal business as the blank passports recovered so far were issued from different passport offices across the country, the police said.