Bengal fake passport racket: Arrested agent had plans to escape to Bangladesh

Manoj Gupta, the agent involved in a fake passport racket in West Bengal, was arrested by Kolkata Police and had plans to escape to neighbouring Bangladesh, sources said.

Gupta had shifted to a rented accommodation in Gaighata, North 24 Parganas district, with the intention of escaping to Bangladesh, as the area is close to the district’s international border with Bangladesh.

Gupta was the seventh and final arrest made by the police since December 15 in connection with the racket, which arranged fake Indian identity documents, including passports, for illegal infiltrators from Bangladesh.

Sources from the city police stated that after the arrests of others in the racket, Gupta grew concerned that he might be next. His fear intensified after the arrest of Dipankar Das, another associate from the same fake travel agency in Behala, south Kolkata.

To avoid being caught, Gupta moved to Gaighata, a location close to the international border, where a part of the border is unfenced and porous. Investigators also found that Gupta did not rent the room directly from the owner. The room where he was arrested on Sunday was rented to a woman, and Gupta had unofficially hired it from her by paying some money.

Based on these factors, investigators are confident that Gupta was attempting to escape to Bangladesh.

Authorities have identified a pattern in the operations of rackets involved in providing fake Indian passports to illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators. After infiltrating into Indian territory, the illegal immigrants contact local agents and offer large sums of money for fake Indian identity documents. These agents initially provide safe shelter in villages near the Bangladesh border, both land and coastal. Then, they arrange fake ration cards, which are used to obtain other identification documents such as EPIC, PAN, and Aadhaar cards. The final step involves acquiring fake passports based on these forged identity documents.