CBI books MEA officials for issuing forged 'official' passports to 12 people

The CBI on Tuesday booked unknown officials of the External Affairs Ministry for allegedly issuing “official” passports to 12 people on the basis of forged documents showing them as Arunachal Pradesh government officials to facilitate their trafficking to the US.

The alleged criminal conspiracy was hatched between the ministry officials and private persons between December 2016 and March this year, the FIR said.

The agency filed the FIR against Raja Kipa, Thupten, Kalden Kunseng, Lucky and unknown officials of the ministry in this connection.

It is alleged that the 12 people had applied for non-immigrant visa for the US and presented their official passports along with letter purportedly written by the ministry to the US Consulate in Kolkata, the FIR said.

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They were called for visa interview but only four persons appeared for it on March 14, 2017 along with identity cards posing as government officials of Arunachal Pradesh, it said.

During the interview, they admitted that were not government officials and disclosed their real identity. 

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