20 more passports issued on fake papers

LUCKNOW: If the findings of the investigations into the fake identification and address verification report (IAVR) are to be interpreted by a layman, there may be another two dozen odd more Amir Alis roaming around freely in the country, looking for an opportunity to strike whenever they get a chance.
Amir Ali, a Pakistani national, was arrested with a valid Indian Passport issued on a fake IAVR issued to him from the regional passport office, Lucknow (RPO-L).This was revealed after Amir was arrested from Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) at New Delhi about three weeks ago. Probing into the fake IAVR, the anti-terrorism squad (ATS) of the Uttar Pradesh Police (UPP) discovered that along with Amir Ali's report, another 27 IAVRs were filed in the same lot.
Scrutinising the address of these 27 IAVRs, sleuths managed to shortlist at least four passports in which the residential address of the applicant as mentioned in their application forms, do not exist on earth. Subsequently, the ATS lodged an FIR against the four passport holders in whose name the permit had been issued.
Of the remaining, 23, investigators are learnt to have traced another 20 passports in which the address of the applicant as mentioned in their passport application form were traced but not a single applicant was found to be residing at the particular address. Initial investigations have revealed that none of these 20-odd individuals had ever lived on the address mentioned in the records. The revelation has led the investigators on a wild goose chase to first locate the passport holders in the first place to further the probe towards a logical conclusion.
The state government as well the RPOL authorities have already sounded alerts for all the entry exit points on the international borders to screen the traffic and intercepted those using the passports listed by them. ATS sleuths have also requested the government agencies which maintain a record of all those who leave or visit India, to verify if any of the 24 passport holders under probe have left India since the passports were issued to them in 2005. "If we can trace the address mentioned by them in the visa request, we can start tracing the route from the opposite end," said a senior officer supervising the probe.