Overview
- An FIR numbered 0023/2026 was registered at Bhojpur police station after a December 11 complaint from the Regional Passport Office in Delhi.
- The five arrested include intermediaries Vivek Gandhi and Prakash Subba, postman Arun Kumar, and applicants Amandeep Singh and Satvant Kaur, according to police.
- Police say 24 applications used bogus addresses in villages such as Bhojpur, Tyodi and Saidpur Husainpur, with at least 22 passports issued and many tied to a single mobile number.
- The FIR names about two dozen identified individuals along with unknown suspects, and investigators are verifying addresses with village heads while probing lapses in the online police-verification process and the role of verifying personnel.
- Arun Kumar told police he was offered ₹2,000 per passport to divert deliveries, while officials are examining middlemen reportedly charging up to ₹1 lakh and warning of potential misuse for illegal travel or identity theft.