The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Passport Act: gang leader held

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Feb 28, 2007
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Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Passport Act: gang leader held

Staff Reporter

Thiruvananthapuram: The city police on Tuesday re-arrested alleged gang leader `Goondukadu' Shabu, 38, on the charge of using a fake passport to travel abroad. He was produced before the court on charges of forgery, cheating, impersonation and violation of the Indian Passport Act and remanded in judicial custody for 14 days.

The suspect was arrested last week from the venue of a Left Democratic Front meeting on the charge of possessing a heavy machete. The fake passport case came to light when Shabu was questioned in police custody, V.C. Mohanan, Assistant Commissioner, Fort, said. Shabu had used a fake address in Kollam to get a passport issued in his name from the Regional Passport Office here, he said.

The accused had used the passport to travel to Dubai in 2005. The police were trying to identify the persons who sponsored Shabu's sojourn in Dubai. An agent at the Passport Office here, Ravi, had helped Shabu procure the fake passport for Rs.15,000. The fake document was destroyed recently, Mr. Mohanan said.

Arun Kumar Sinha, Inspector-General of Police, South Zone, has ordered an inquiry to find out how Shabu cleared the police verification procedure for getting the passport. The police have got the duplicate copies of the fake passport and the Passport Officer has been asked to furnish all details.

The police have contacted the Postal Department to find out who was responsible for delivering the passport, officials said.

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