The arrested touts at Kotwali police station in Patna on Tuesday. Picture by Deepak Kumar

Patna, July 26: A special team of the city police conducted a surprise raid on the regional passport office at the Mauryalok Complex and nabbed 20 people actively involved in “simplifying” the process of passport procurement for the applicants in return of money, anything ranging between Rs 5,000 and Rs 20,000.

City superintendent of police (SP) Shivdeep Lande led the raiding team.

The police confiscated 21 cellphones from them. A team of fresh cops from the police lines were asked to carry out an investigation. The policemen have been on their toes in and around the passport office for three days to identify the touts and to get a hang of their modus operandi.

“Twenty men have been rounded up by the police. They were roaming in and around the passport office aimlessly. They didn’t have any passport application form, file number and other documents. The police suspect that these men take money from the applicants promising them passport in no time. The police also have the information that some officials at the passport office carry out the business in connivance with these touts,” the city SP told The Telegraph.

“There have been instances when touts have reached the residences of those who have applied for passports in Patna giving them offers in return of money. This shows that the men in the passport office give them the addresses. The mobile phones of those nabbed will be checked since their phonebooks might have the numbers of those officials who are hand in glove with the touts. Their phones are ringing continuously with calls regarding queries of passports. Some calls are made from Nepal as well,” another officer said.

“This is quite alarming because issuance of passports without proper verification have landed the police here in big trouble,” another police officer told The Telegraph.

A few months ago, the police revealed that stud farm owner Hasan Ali, who is presently in jail for money laundering worth crores, had got one of his passports made from the state capital in 1997.

“It could be possible that in a bid to give the passports to the applicants in a short time, the police do not conduct the verification properly. Most of the money that these touts get goes to the different tables of the passport office and also to some cops,” an officer said.