Duping passport applicants
Three members of fraud gang arrested
“I, Rafique, a sub-inspector of special branch (SB) of police, am calling you from the SB office to let you know that the passport applications of your mother and wife are now with me.”
Rafique, a fraud pretending to be an SI, said this to Md Mohsin Alam Mollah at 7pm on August 26 on the phone. Rafique also demanded Tk 3,000 for police verification needed for the passports.
It should be mentioned that there is no additional fee for police verification.
Mohsin, who submitted the application forms to the passport office on August 20, sent Tk 1,550 to Rafique through bKash account within 10 minutes after their conversation.
The following day, Mohsin received another phone call from the actual SB office at Malibagh in Dhaka. SI Anwar of SB called Mohsin to go to his office to meet him for the verification.
Only after going to SB office, Mohsin realised that he had been duped the previous day.
Mohsin informed the SB official about the imposter.
Like Mohsin, many who have been deceived by such frauds, also informed the SB officials.
Following repeated complaints, Police Bureau of Investigation launched a drive to arrest the frauds.
A team of PBI's Dhaka Metro unit arrested three members of the fraud gang with mobile phone sets and SIM cards from the passport office area at Dhaka's Agargaon on Thursday afternoon.
The detainees are: Rakib Mia, 26, Md Kamal Hosen, 27, and Md Sajib, 28.
Some members of the gang are absconding, Md Abul Kalam Azad, special police superintendent of PBI in Dhaka Metro, told The Daily Star.
The gang, posing as police officials, used to call passport applicants and demand money via bKash for police verification, he added.
At the primary interrogation, the arrestees said they pay photocopy machine operators and brokers near the passport office to collect copies of passport application forms.
A member of the gang calls around 40-50 applicants every day and demands money from the applicants in return of police verification report on time.
A case has been filed with Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station in connection with the incident.
Mohsin, a victim of the scam, demanded exemplary punishment for the frauds.