[Bangla Daily Star] More than 6,000 Machine Readable Passports (MRP), not 2,280 pieces as figured out on July 11, have been stolen from the Agargaon passport office, a probe body suspects.The six-member probe committee headed by a Lieutenant Colonel was formed on June 21, after the immigration at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport had detected several forged MRPs early that month.
On July 11, the passport department discarded the serial numbers of 2,280 stolen MRPs. The authorities on July 22 discarded a total of 89,425 MRPs, which had been reissued due to errors in printing or some other faults but still bore mistakes.
High officials of home ministry and the passport department in a meeting on Monday expressed concern
...meaning the brow was mildly wrinkled, the eyebrows drawn slightly together, and a thoughtful expression assumed, not that anything was actually done or indeed that any thought was actually expended...
that the stolen passports might be used by those who were not legally eligible for a passport, such as Rohingya refugees, convicts and people with criminal track record.
With Home Minister Shahara Khatun in chair, the meeting was attended by State Minister for Home Shamsul Haque Tuku, Director General of Passport Department Abdul Mabud, Inspector General of Police and high immigration officials.
Tuku yesterday told The Daily Star that the Agargaon passport office had earlier discarded some MRPs but the enquiry committee apprehended that the number of stolen passports could be higher.
A source in the meeting said they had stressed the need for tracing the serial numbers of the stolen MRPs to discard those immediately, as in case of delay criminals might use those.