KOCHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probing the bribery case involving the Malappuram regional passport officer has revealed the names of more agents who availed passports illegally. The CBI will arraign three more travel agents as accused in the case soon. Last month, the central agency had arrested Malappuram passport officer P Ramakrishnan and an agent for issuing passports illegally. The CBI has also initiated steps to register a separate case against Ramakrishnan for amassing wealth disproportionate to his known sources income. “We have received information that the accused had received bribe from several agents for issuing passports through the backdoor.
We have collected names of the agents, and will arraign them as accused in the coming days. “We have also received information about the wealth amassed by the passport officer through illegal channels,” said a CBI official. According to the Central Bureau of Investigation, Ramakrishnan issued several passports for which applications were not submitted through Passport Seva Kendras. He processed the passports directly, and handdelivered them. Ramakrishnan was caught red-handed last month, based on a complaint, for accepting bribe from a United Nations employee who had approached him for passport.