‘Do thorough check before issuing verification report for passport applicants’

Expedited cross verification of reports, says Police Commissioner Shailesh Kumar Yadav

RULES OF THE GAME: Commissioner of Police Shailesh Kumar Yadav speaking at the interactive session in Tiruchi on Wednesday. K. Balamurugan, Passport Officer, Tiruchi, is seen. Photo: M. Moorthy

Commissioner of Police Shailesh Kumar Yadav on Wednesday called upon the city police personnel to thoroughly check the domicile certificate before issuing verification report for passport applicants.

As there have been attempts to furnish false domicile certificates by some applicants, it was the responsibility of the law enforcers to conduct thorough checks at the field level as the verification exercise depended entirely on them , Mr. Shailesh Kumar Yadav said at an interactive session between city police personnel and officials of the Regional Passport Office here.

Stating that every citizen of the country had a right to get a passport, Mr. Shailesh Kumar Yadav said it was the joint responsibility of the police and the passport office to stop the misuse of passport.

While calling upon law enforcers to keep themselves abreast of the rules and guidelines in respect of issuance of passport, he asked the Passport Office officials to bring to the notice of the police any changes in law connected with passport issuance.

Advising police personnel to carry out the verification exercise meticulously to ensure the genuineness of the applicants, Mr. Kumar asserted that city police had expedited the system of verification. The city police, of late, had started cross verifying the reports, he said adding that “we will increase instances of cross verification to ensure that police reports are faultless.” The interaction was essentially aimed at understanding the grey areas in the issuance of passport and ways to set them right, he said. Passport Officer, Tiruchi, K. Balamurugan, urged police personnel to visit the place of stay of applicants with the necessary register. He said there was no role for middlemen at the Tiruchi Passport Office as the fingerprints of applicants and their photographs were being taken at the Passport Seva Kendra itself. “It is a broker-free office,” he said.

Organised by the Tiruchi Regional Passport Office, the programme was attended by Sub Inspectors, Inspectors and Assistant Commissioners besides officials of the passport office.