CBI arrests three officials of Jalandhar passport office

Chandigarh: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) team from Chandigarh arrived at the regional passport office in Jalandhar on Friday for a search, has arrested three officials of the Jalandhar Regional Passport Office, including a Regional Passport Officer (RPO) and two Assistant Passport Officers (APO), in connection with a bribery case related to the issuance of passports. Searches are being conducted at the residential and office premises of the accused. Approximately Rs 20 lakh in cash and incriminating documents have been seized from them. The investigation is ongoing.

According to the information, there are links to a human trafficking case, and the CBI had initiated the investigation on the orders of the High Court. The matter is being linked to the passport inquiry.

Sources have revealed that in the last few days, guidelines were being violated in Jalandhar regarding passport issuance. Information regarding this was sent to the CBI office in Chandigarh.

The current search is being conducted to verify these facts. CBI sources said a significant number of documents have been seized from Jalandhar so far, based on which the next phase of the investigation will be conducted.

Teams are currently searching. However, no statement from any passport officer in Jalandhar has been revealed regarding this. At the same time, the phones of many high officials in the Jalandhar Regional Office are switched off.

The human trafficking scandal was uncovered during the CBI investigation, leading to the registration of two cases by the CBI, the investigation of which is ongoing.