Kolkata: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) in its investigation into the fake passport corruption case has found that a businessman from Khardah in North 24 Parganas has travelled abroad 900 times in 10 years.
Sources in the ED said on Wednesday that the information was obtained during a search at his house on BT Road near Khardah Bazar on Tuesday evening.
ED sleuths searched the flat of a transport businessman named Vinod Gupta at the Narmada Awas apartment.
According to ED sources, officials recovered several documents after searching the house of the businessman. Based on those documents, the ED has come to know that the businessman has travelled abroad 900 times in about 10 years.
The central investigators claimed that in most of these cases, his destination was Bangkok. The investigators have raised questions about how it is possible to travel abroad so many times in such a short period of time. They want to know why the businessman repeatedly went abroad and what the purpose of his repeated visits to Bangkok was.
According to ED sources, the businessman used to travel to Bangkok at least twice every week. ED sources claim that the businessman used to do foreign currency exchange business without valid documents.
ED sleuths said that they have obtained several important information by initially analysing the seized documents. It is learnt that the investigators have conducted this operation based on specific sources. The ED is already preparing to summon the businessman for questioning.
Recently, the federal agency raided an online passport application centre in front of the Passport Seva Kendra in Kolkata, as part of its ongoing investigation into the fake passport corruption case.
According to ED sources, the officers of the central investigation agency have collected some information after visiting the passport office. Sources said, such online application centres outside the passport office might have played a role in the corruption of creating fake passports.
The ED also raided the house of a carpenter in Chakdaha in Nadia district. The members of the house were also questioned. The carpenter’s name is Biplab Sarkar, a resident of Padari village in Chakdaha. The investigation team visited the house of Biplab and his brother.
Later, two brothers and one more person were arrested. The names of those arrested are Biplab, Binanda Sarkar and Bipul Sarkar.
Sources said that Biplab Sarkar’s name surfaced during the interrogation of Indu Bhushan Halder, a middleman arrested last month for helping foreigners get Indian Identity documents (passport) in lieu of money.
It may be noted that Pakistani citizen Azad Mallick was arrested in the fake passport case earlier this year.
At that time, the ED conducted searches in a large part of the India-Bangladesh border area or the North 24 Parganas and Nadia districts. Wednesday’s search is also based on the same sources.
The investigation into the fake Indian passport racket operating from West Bengal was initially started by the West Bengal Police at the end of last year. Several arrests were also made in this connection.
Later, the ED took over the investigation, considering the money laundering angle involved in the case.
In April, the ED officials made a major breakthrough in the case by nabbing Azad Mullick in the matter.
Investigation by ED officials revealed that, besides running the hawala and fake Indian passport rackets, Mullick was involved in arranging fake visas of foreign countries for people willing to visit those countries.
The state police had already filed a charge sheet in the matter, naming 130 individuals as accused in the case; 120 of whom were illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators.
The police have also issued a lookout notice against them.
(IANS)
