Passport to SL Tamils with fake documents: Head constable held

TIRUCHY: A police head constable from Thanjavur who was absconding for more than two months in the case of arranging passports to Sri Lankan Tamils with fake documents was arrested on Saturday.

According to sources, on information that a few Sri Lankan Tamils had got Indian passports with fake documents from Sethubavachatram area near Pattukkottai, the Q-Branch police team from Thanjavur headed by the DSP Sivasankaran conducted a series of investigations in which the team found that all those passports were arranged with fake documents uploaded along with the online application and the passports were released even without proper police inquiry.

The special team found that the officials from the passport office, a few police personnel and postal department staff were involved in the scam. Subsequently, on December 13, 2023, the team arrested, Govindaraj (64), Postal Assistant from Andikadu post office, Vadivel (52) and Raju (31) both from Kumbakonam, Balasingam (36), computer operator from Sethubavachatram police station Vaithianathan (52) from Tiruchy, Sankar (42) from Rajamadam. Later Sankaran (52) from Kumbakonam was arrested on January 31.

Meanwhile, the team continued their investigation and found that Shesha (47), the head constable of Sethubavachatram was the brain behind the episode and so the Q-branch police were trying to arrest him but, sensing the arrest Shesha went absconding since then and so the police suspended him.

In the meantime, the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court, where the case was in progress, questioned the Q-Branch police about the delay in arresting Shesha. On Friday, the Q-Branch police learnt that Shesha was hiding in Thanjavur town and so they went to the spot and arrested him in the wee hours of Saturday.

He was produced before the Pattukkottai Court and later, he was lodged in the Tiruchy Central Prison