MRP scam
4 DIP staff suspended
DEEPAK ACHARJEE
The Department of Immigration and Passports (DIP) yesterday suspended four lower division clerks (LDCs) for helping several persons obtain a second machine readable passport (MRP) by taking the imprint of wrong fingers.
They are Rasheda Khatun, Ali Ashraf, Mahmudul Hassan and Likhon Khan. All of them are LDCs at the DIP headquarters. A circular on the suspension order was issued by the DIP after it was found that the four were involved in irregularities. The move comes after The Independent published a news report, titled Multiple MRPs, no problem, on Wednesday.
Mohsin, husband of Rasheda Khatun who works as a driver of the DIP at its Khulna regional office, is part of the MRP racket.
Sources in the DIP said Rasheda Khatun is the mastermind of the MRPracket. Through her husband, Mohsin, she got in touch with people who wanted a second MRP. She then referred them to Ali Ashraf, Mahmudul Hassan and Likhon Khan, working at the Agargaon headquarters as operators. These three took imprints of middle and ring fingers, instead of the thumb and index fingers of both hands. Usually the DIP operators take imprints of the thumb and index fingers of both hands during enrolment for an MRP. The four carried out their illegal work in the early hours of office time to provide a second MRP to their customers, the sources added.
The four culprits were identified from footage of CCTV cameras installed around the enrolment rooms of the Agargaon passport office. The DIP has identified six more people who obtained a second MRP by paying some dishonest employees of the office.
Md Mamum Mia, a well-known smuggler with police record has managed to get three MRPs under different names and addresses, using the same photograph and set of fingerprints. About the four suspended employees, the DIP director general (DG), Brig. Gen. (Retd) Md Masud Rezwan, told The Independent: We will file departmental cases against them and take stern action.
He also said that all the fake MRPs have been cancelled.
According to sources, 1.50 crore MRPs have been issued so far. All Bangladesh missions abroad have introduced MRPs. The MRPs were introduced on April 1, 2010, to speed up clearance and enhance security of travellers.
