Passport Verification: 9 cop imposters held in Dhaka

Nine people have been arrested for allegedly extorting money from passport applicants by posing as officers of the Special Branch (SB) of police.

SB carries out police verification of passport seekers.

The arrestees with the help of some staffers of passport offices used to collect the details of the applicants and posing as SB officers used to demand money to get their police verification done.

Upon receiving allegations, a team of detectives arrested them from different areas in the capital, said Harun-Or-Rashid, chief of the detective branch of DMP at a press conference yesterday.

The arrestees are: Kazi Mohammad Belal Hossain, Jasim Uddin, Al Amin Gazi, Hasan Ahmed, Sohag Alam, Hossain Mollah, Nuruzzaman Mia, Mamunur Rahman and Rasel Islam.

The gang members used to collect details of the passport applicants with the help of office assistants, Ansar members and other staff working at different passport offices and send those to Belal and Jasim.

The two used to call the applicants by identifying themselves as police officers, Harun said.

The scammers asked passport applicants about their personal information and promised quick verification without home visits for a bribe, Harun said.

They used mobile banking service to collect the money.

Harun said the gang, led by Belal, has been deceiving people for a long time.