Sri Lankan national among five held in fake passport racket

Eluru: West Godavari police busted a fake passport racket and arrested five persons including a Sri Lankan national, Mohammad Zakir Hussain, who was involved in surgeries to change the fingerprints of some people (accused in various cases) and sending them abroad (gulf countries) with forged documents. The gang had performed over 70 surgeries to change the fingerprints of the accused and have helped them secure fake passports.

Superintendent of Police, West Godavari, Navdeep Singh Grewal said that B Rambabu, K Rajareddy, Sk Mohammed Muzaffar, V Trimurthulu and Mohammad Zakir Hussain were involved in the crime. The police officer said that B Rambabu, a native of Palakollu in West Godavari district, had gone to Kuwait in 2012 and was arrested by the Kuwait police for manufacturing spirits illegally. After taking his fingerprints, Kuwait officials deported him to India in 2015.

The police said that when Rambabu was in Kuwait, he was acquainted with Md Basha and through him, was introduced to Khadar Basha and Muzaffar. Rambabu paid Rs 2.5 lakh to Khadar Basha and Rs 1 lakh to his associate, Rajareddy of Nellore, to get a fake passport after an operation to change his fingerprint. Rambabu went back to Kuwait with fake documents in 2018 and returned to India a few months back.

Taking a cue from this, Rambabu created his own gang with the help of Mary Rajyalakshmi of Bhimavaram, who stays in Kuwait, and a private medical practitioner, V Trimurthulu of Pallakollu. Trimurthulu learned how to conduct the operation of changing fingerprints from the Sri Lankan national, Mohammad Zakir Hussain. During the investigation, it came to light that Rambabu, Rajareddy and his associates had helped around 70, who are accused in several deportation cases in the Gulf, in getting fake passports since 2017. The police arrested all the five accused and recovered the medical kit, five cell phones and other things.

"We are investigating the case from various angles to find out the links of the gang with other gangs in various states and also suspect the involvement of a few police personnel for supporting the gang," the police officer said.