The city police have issued lookout notices for 69 people who obtained Indian passports using fake documents and have left the country.

Kolkata Police recently filed charges against 130 individuals for fraudulently obtaining Indian passports or for facilitating in this passport fraud case. Most of these suspects are currently abroad.

Rupesh Kumar, joint commissioner (crime) of Kolkata Police, said on Wednesday that lookout notices had been issued against 69 people and evidence had been found implicating 73 others who used forged documents for passports.

The police haven’t specified if any suspects are Bangladeshi nationals. A lookout notice allows authorities to detain these individuals if they attempt to enter or exit India.

The investigation began last September after the Security Control Office reported people obtaining passports with fake identity documents. Kolkata Police lodged a case with Bhowanipore police station in this regard.

An internal audit by the Regional Passport Office in Calcutta discovered these discrepancies, but by then, many passports had been issued without proper verification.

The process of verification of a passport application includes ascertaining the authenticity of the documents submitted by an applicant, cross-checking the person’s background and verifying if there are any pending criminal cases. Physical verification of the applicant’s address and confirming his or her nationality are also mandatory.

Once the discrepancy was brought to the notice of Kolkata Police, a special investigation team was formed.

The passport office alerted police to approximately 240 suspicious cases across Bengal. Ten arrests have been made so far — one passport holder and nine middlemen who helped create fake documents.

In their recent charges, the police identified 120 of the 130 accused as Bangladeshi nationals who obtained Indian passports fraudulently. All 120 are reportedly at large.

The accused have been charged with sections of cheating, forgery, criminal breach of trust by a public servant, banker, merchant or agent, and criminal conspiracy along with charges under the Passport Act and Foreigners Act.

The investigation also led to the arrest of a former police officer who had approved at least 52 applications later found to contain forged documents.