Fake passport racket busted, mastermind arrested

Kolkata: The Delhi Police with the assistance of Haridevpur police station in Kolkata busted a fake passport racket and arrested the mastermind of the case on Friday night

Nand Kishore Prasad was picked up from a rented apartment at Mahatma Gandhi Road under Haridevpur police station area by a team from Chanakyapuri police station in connection with a case of forgery. The sleuths have learnt that Prasad had been staying at this particular address since July last year. Police have recovered some documents like forged Russian visa encrypted with several passports, some forged stamp and holograms of the central government, some electronics devices like laptop, coloured printers, currency counting machine and some other equipment from his custody.

Sources said 86 international passports have been found in his possession and he used to charge Rs 1 lakh for each of the passport. He has already earned a few crores through this illegal practice. Sub inspector Ashwini Kumar of Chanakyapuri Police Station, Delhi who reached the city with a police team on Friday had sought assistance of Haridevpur police station during the raid and accordingly a joint operation was held.

The Delhi police produced Prasad at the Alipore Court and would take him in transit remand to Chanakyapuri.

Meanwhile, Kolkata Police is trying to find out whether the arrested person had any links with three Jamaat–ul-Mujahideen (JMB) activists who were arrested from the same area on July 12.