Some passports seized at IGI Airport fake,admits MEA

All these passports bore the signature of one particular official posted at Washington DC.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has told the Delhi Police that eight of the 23 passports confiscated from green card holders arriving from the US at the Indira Gandhi International Airport over the past 10 months were fake and were not issued from the Indian Embassy in Washington DC.

All these passports bore the signature of one particular official posted at Washington DC. In April,the Ministry of Home Affairs had asked the MEA to furnish the details about this official and help Delhi Police in their probe.

At least 23 people,all green card holders from the US were found in possession of the J series passports when they were arrested at the IGI airport. The booklet comprised both genuine and fake leaflets. Police said very fine quality pages were used and they could be scanned copies that seemed to have been assembled and sewn together like a passport.

The police said they had sought queries from the MEA on all the 23 passports but so far they have got a response in only eight such cases. The MEA has said that eight of these 23 passports were fake and were not issued by the Indian Embassy, police said.