Mumbai police have arrested retired assistant sub-inspector Sanjay Jagtap for allegedly approving a passport application based on forged documents in 2023. The case involves a notorious narcotics offender who fled the country after obtaining the passport. Three others were previously arrested in connection with the fraud.
In Dahisar, Mumbai, police arrested Sanjay Jagtap, a retired assistant sub-inspector, on November 5, 2023, shortly after his retirement on October 31. Jagtap, who was then a head constable in the passport verification branch, is accused of clearing a passport application without proper checks. He was remanded to judicial custody on November 7 following two days in police custody.
The main accused, Rajendra alias Rajender alias Jinder Guru Vachansingh, faced multiple narcotics cases in Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan, with a conviction in one. Released on medical grounds in 2023, he moved to Mumbai and rented accommodation in Dahisar with his wife, Baljit Kaur, and their seven-year-old daughter. Assisted by Satish Dhakane, Nilesh Tiwari, and Pankaj Kumar Singh—who were arrested earlier—Vachansingh obtained forged documents, including an Aadhaar card dated 2021, despite being in Punjab jail at that time. Using these, he applied for passports for himself, his wife, and daughter in 2023.
The fraud surfaced after Vachansingh secured the passports and fled India. Haryana police, while intercepting a 4-kilogram heroin consignment and arresting two individuals, uncovered Vachansingh's involvement in international drug supply during interrogation. Their probe revealed the Mumbai-issued passport, leading them to alert Dahisar police. In March 2023, a case was registered against the four under IPC sections 420 (cheating), 465, 467, 468, 471, and 120(B), along with Section 12 of the Passport Act, 1967.
A police officer noted the irony of the forged papers' 2021 date, highlighting the lack of verification. This incident underscores vulnerabilities in document scrutiny processes.