258 passports found dumped in Sirsa village

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 11

The police recovered 258 passports found abandoned on the roadside from Chakerian to Lakranwali village coming under the Kalanwali area in Sirsa district last evening.

On noticing the passports lying scattered on the roadside, villagers informed the police.

Om Parkash, SHO of the Kalanwali police station who went to the site and recovered the documents, said the passports were of current validity.

The passports were issued on the names of residents of Chandigarh, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Patna Sahib (Bihar) and some other places.

The SHO said the police would approach the Regional Passport Office for investigations.

While the police was still in the process of preparing list of the passports, a visa company based in Ludhiana is said to have claimed that the documents were lost from its office and it had lodged a complaint in this regard with the police.

Kalanwali SHO said though the Ludhiana firm was yet to meet the local police, he had seen on some regional news channel that the company has made this claim after watching news regarding the recovery of passports on news channels last night.

Bathinda police in Kalianwali

Bathinda: A team of the Bathinda police today visited Mandi Kalianwali in Sirsa district to verify the passports as the Haryana police found 258 passports near the Punjab-Haryana border last night.

Two hundred and fifty-four passports were lost from the speed post service of the Postal Department at Bathinda and probe was already going on in the case.

A case regarding these missing passports was registered at the Civil Lines police station. Sub Inspector Balraj Singh said a team led by ASI Krishan Gopal today visited Kalianwali and cross-checked these passports, but found nothing, because the passports were too old and there was no passport of any Bathinda resident and most of the passports belonged to Ludhiana residents.

The passports lost from Bathinda were afresh. Even, the Bathinda police have taken a list of all beneficiaries at Kalianwali to match them.

A packet of 254 passports was lost from the speed post service of the post office and matter came in the notice, when Bathinda and Mansa- based residents received SMS from the Regional Passport Office, Chandigarh, that their passports has been released on January 15 and would reached to them in 15 days.