Following the discovery of a passport fraud involving a senior civil police officer (CPO), the Thiruvananthapuram City police in Kerala have initiated a scrutiny of passport verification reports issued by the Kazhakuttam and the Thumba police stations where the accused officer Ansil Azees had worked recently.

Authorities are investigating reports that recommended passport issuance police stations over the past six months. A comprehensive report will subsequently be submitted to the Thiruvananthapuram regional passport officer for further action, potentially including the suspension of passports issued on the basis of forged documents.

Ansil Azees, attached to the Thumba police, was suspended recently after his involvement in the scheme was exposed. So far, six persons have been arrested in two cases registered in connection with the fraud.

According to official sources, Ansil Azees allegedly manipulated police verification reports in 13 out of 20 applications he handled at the Thumba police station. He had previously worked in the Kazhakuttam police station.

His suspicious activities were noticed when he intervened in a passport verification application for a criminal case accused from Sreekaryam. Investigations revealed that the applicant had submitted falsified address proof of a house taken on rent under the Thumba police station limits, and a forged voter’s ID card.

Among those arrested, Manvila native Prasanth acted as Ansil’s agent in the racket, while another accused, Kamlesh of Manacaud, was allegedly tasked with producing counterfeit documents for obtaining voter’s ID cards and passports.

Other suspects in the case include Edward of Mannanthala, Sunil Kumar of Varkala, Safarulla Khan and Badarudeen of Kollam.

The gang is suspected of facilitating passports for individuals implicated in criminal cases in exchange for monetary gain, relying on manipulated verification reports to conceal their criminal backgrounds.