The probe committee of the Department of Information and Passport yesterday started investigating the matters related to the seizure of 350 fake passports and 344 fake forms from Patuakhali passport office.
Mohammad Toufiqul Islam Khan, deputy director of the department, also the head of the one-member probe committee, met district level officers including the Patuakhali deputy commissioner and officials of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) and police yesterday.
Rab seized 350 fake passports and 344 fake passport forms from Patuakhali passport office and arrested three passport office staff and five brokers on Thursday evening.
The arrestees include Shahjahan Howlader, assistant director of Patuakhali passport office, its office assistant Abul Hossen and MLSS Wahiduzzaman.
The arrested brokers are Babul Gazi, 35, of Haritokibaria village, Md Rafiq, 48, of Jainkathi village, Partho Sarothi Das, 30, of Chawk Bazar in Patuakhali town, Uttam Kuamr, 32, of Idrakpur village under Patuakhali Sadar upazila, and Montu Karmakar, 65, of Kawnia village under Barisal Sadar upazila.
Shahjahan Howlader has already been suspended for his alleged involvement in issuing fake passport, Toufiqul Islam Khan, the investigation officer, told Patuakhali journalists yesterday.
"Keeping the passport office under observation for long, Rab found that a section of brokers with the help of some officials were preparing and delivering golakata (fake) passports to people including pilgrims in exchange of huge money. Terrorists and war criminals can use such fake passports to leave the country," said Nuruzzaman, company commander of Rab-8 in Patuakhali, who conducted Thursday's raid in the passport office.
A case was filed with Patuakhali police station in this regard.
A team from Detective Security Branch examined 1700 passports from January to June this year and they have continued the process for examining all the passports issued from the Patuakhali office, Rab sources said.
Source : The Daily Star
