A police constable attached to MICO Layout police station and a postman from BTM Layout have been arrested by the Ashok Nagar police in connection with a fake passport racket.
The constable is accused of manipulating the police verification procedure to help a gang of contract killers get at least five passports, all with addresses in Mico Layout.
The police said that the constable, Yallappa Bannanje, was picked up for his alleged role in procuring passport for a contract killer, who was later arrested for his role in the Times Bar shootout case.
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They said that Yallappa, in collusion with four touts and two contract employees of BangaloreOne centre, helped Mohammed Anwar, the contract killer, get a passport. They also claimed that Anwar even travelled to Dubai to get supari from Rajesh alias Altaf, the prime accused in the shootout case, to eliminate the partner of Times Bar.
After his arrest, Anwar confessed to the police that he got the passport through fake documents and had paid Rs. 30,000 to Yallappa.
Investigations have now revealed that the gang had procured at least 20 passports using fake documents of which at least five passports had addresses in Mico Layout area, for which Yallappa helped with police verification. However, the gang members were residents of Mangaluru.
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“Yallappa had connived with the gang and saw to it that he was assigned for the verification of these passport applications in the police station and gave a favourable report without verification,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Sandeep Patil.
He also said that since the postman, Dinesh, failed to carry out standard operating procedure while handing over the passport, he too would be charge-sheeted in the case.