Police naik held in passport scam

A police naik was arrested on Saturday for his alleged involvement in a fake passport racket. According to police,the accused was involved in verification process of 42 passports issued on fake residential addresses. The accused has been identified as Digambar Laxman Ghorpade (45),a resident of Somwar Peth police colony. The police also arrested a passport agent,Inayatali Abdul Aziz Hariyani,in the case.

The racket came to light after Mumbai Police arrested 45-year-old Sajid Batliwala,an alleged aide of Dawood Ibrahim,in December last year. Mohammad Makandar,Assistant Commissioner of Police (Lashkar division),said,“During the verification process,Ghorpade did not verify the identity proofs of the applicants,who had given fake documents including their residential proofs. The verification forms were not brought before the senior police inspector and his signature was also forged. After that the forms were submitted the passport office.”