Bhubaneswar, March 14: The state crime branch and the intelligence wing have started an investigation into the whereabouts of 27 tourists, who have gone missing in Saudi Arabia. All the tourists had allegedly obtained passports from the regional passport office in Bhubaneswar.

Sources said the state crime branch had asked the regional passport office authorities to provide documents submitted by the missing persons when they had allegedly applied for their passports.

The incident came to light after a Mumbai-based travel agency that had organised the trip, informed the matter to the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad. Sources said the missing tourists were from Bengal and had been to Saudi Arabia on a 45-day visa.

The travel agency sought help of the Anti-Terrorism Squad when they found that the tourists had not checked into their designated hotel even after three days of their departure.

Though the regional passport office authorities remained tight-lipped about the incident, they suspect that the 27 had submitted forged documents to obtain passports.

"An applicant needs to be a resident of Odisha to be able to get a passport from here. The applicant also needs to produce various documents to establish himself or herself as a resident of the state. But there have been instances where applicants have provided fake documents to obtain passports," said a passport official.

In January last year, police had arrested Bangladesh national Mohammad Basir, 23, for allegedly applying for a passport with fake documents. Subsequently, the police had also rounded up seven Bangladeshi infiltrators from two places in Jajpur district.

The 23-year-old Basir had produced a voter's identity card from Jajpur district and a school-leaving certificate from a school located in the same district. However, further verification by passport officials revealed that the voter identity card number was registered in the name of a 56-year-old woman called Basant Manjari Bal.

Sources in the crime branch said they were in constant touch with the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad and were probing the case. "This is a serious case and we are further trying to get all the details of the passports of the missing persons. We are in touch with the state intelligence to find out more details," said a crime branch official.

On February 17 last year, the state police had arrested five operatives of Students Islamic Movement of India from Rourkela. The operatives, who were in the wanted list of the National Investigating Agency, had been staying in Odisha for a few weeks when they were caught.