4 passport staffers held

HYDERABAD: The Central Crime Station  police on Monday arrested four employees of the Regional Passport Office here for issuing fake passports to candidates.The CCS police, however, did not reveal their names stating that they took them into custody. The four employees are working at the counters of RPO in Secunderabad. They were involved in issuance of fake passports to applicants  who submit fake residential and other proofs.A few days ago, passport office officials had said that they received an alert from Hyderabad police commissioner AK Khan on fake documents being submitted by applicants to get passports. According to him, RPO officials are issuing passports without proper verification of documents. RPO officials said they had received 340 applications a few days ago.In the case of 240 applicants, Electoral Photo Identity Cards (EPIC) could be verified online from the Election Commission and GHMC websites, but not in the case of the other 100 applicants. These documents have now been sent to the state election commissioner for verification.RPO officials obtained a list of candidates who applied for passport submitting fake ID proofs. Basing on the information provided by the RPO, police arrested the four employees who allegedly issued fake passports after accepting bribes from the candidates.