Diplomatic passports come under immigration scanner

New Delhi: The misuse of diplomatic passports is under focus, with sleuths instructed to keep a watchful eye on people travelling abroad with this document after an MP was arrested for his suspected role in an immigration racket.
"We have received intimation from the Intelligence Bureau to keep a check on all those travelling on diplomatic passports. It's a precautionary measure," a senior immigration official told a news agency.
The directive has gone out to officials at other international airports in the country as well.
The matter has acquired urgency following the suspension of three immigration officials at the Indira Gandhi international airport who were alleged to have facilitated Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Babubhai Katara's clearance through airport checks on earlier occasions.
Katara was arrested at the airport April 18 while allegedly trying to smuggle a 30-year-old woman and her 14-year-old son on an Air India flight to Canada by using the diplomatic passports of his wife and son.
The Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) has admitted to a nexus between immigration officials and recruiting agents in illegal migration.
01/05/07 Zee News

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Categories: Airports May 2007, Foreign May 2007, Safety May 2007