Kolkatta, January 6, 2025: The nation was shaken as a retired police official of the Kolkata Police was held accountable for one of the largest passport forgery incidents. Abu Hai, aged 61, a former Sub-Inspector associated with the passport section of the Kolkata Police Security Control Organisation, was found to be directly involved in a fake passport racket and was arrested around 11.45pm on Friday, January 3, from his residence at Habra, in North 24 Parganas.

Earlier a fake passport racket was unearthed in Kolkata, which involved providing police clearance to Indian passport applicants based on fake documents. These applications involve those put forth by several Bangladeshis. As the police continued their mission of identifying culprits and consequent arrests, Hai became the ninth person to be arrested. As per police investigation, approximately 15 lakh Rupees was credited to Hai’s account over the past 1-2 years. This transaction was made from the account of the kingpin of the forgery, Samaresh Biswas and has led to the conclusion regarding Hai’s active involvement in the case. A senior officer reported that Hai took Rs. 25,000 for verifying each fake applicant. He further added that after being produced to a city court, he was remanded to police custody till January 18.

Amidst the increasing discontentment between India and Bangladesh, the unverified clearance of passports of Bangladeshis has raised concerns about national security and the failure of the police force, the “protectors” to maintain integrity. Political analysts are of the opinion that if the fence starts eating the crop, the scope for security from the sentries remains far away. The opposition parties have further taken the opportunity to pinpoint the failure of the Bengal Government in keeping a check on the functioning of its police department. The entire nation has its eyes set on how the case unfolds and the entire system is re-designed to re-instill security.