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Indian mission denies reports on passports

DUBAI - The Indian mission in the UAE has categorically denied an Indian newspaper report (published yesterday) suggesting that nearly 500 blank passports had gone missing from the Indian Consulate in Dubai six months ago.

According to the report, some of these missing passports had allegedly ended up in the hands of the relatives of one of India's most wanted fugitives.

Talmiz Ahmed, Indian Ambassador to the UAE, told Khaleej Times that the report was completely baseless. He said not a single passport had gone missing from the Indian consulate in Dubai. “I categorically deny any such incident to have occurred. The report is completely baseless," said Ahmed. A report published in India's The Telegraph newspaper yesterday claimed that nearly 500 passports were found missing from the Indian Consulate in Dubai around six months ago but the matter has been swept under the carpet as it threatens to open a can of worms involving senior officials.

Refuting the allegations, a Press statement issued by the Indian consulate in Dubai said, "No passports are missing from the Consulate General of India in Dubai and no inquiry has been carried out at the Consulate with regard to any missing passport.

"No official of the Consulate has been transferred out because of any security lapse. There is no evidence of any passport belonging to the Consulate being sold for any amount. No passport applications are missing and all procedures with regard to the issue of 'loss circulars' are being followed," the statement noted.

The statement, however, stated that "In March 2007, 20 parcels containing blank passports were forwarded to the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi by the Indian Security Press en route to Consulate General of India, Dubai.

"These parcels were to be collected by the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi and then forwarded to the Consulate by a diplomatic bag. However, the Ministry of External Affairs discovered that five of these parcels containing 500 passports were missing in New Delhi.

"The Commandant of the CISF, IGI Airport, New Delhi also informed the Ministry that certain number of passports were found in scattered condition in the IGI Airport area. This matter was reported in the Indian Press at the time. The Ministry of External Affairs, the Indian Security Press, Nasik, and the CISF unit of IGI Airport are inquiring into the loss of these passports in New Delhi," the statement added.

Further, the statement said that the Consulate General of India was merely the ultimate destination for the blank passports.

According to The Telegraph report, officials of intelligence agencies are still trying to ascertain the damage caused by the pilferage of genuine passports, made at the Indian Security Press (ISP) in Nasik. They are trying to trace the number of the missing passports and see whether the documents have been used for travel.

Many of the 500 passports were blank, which means the scope for misuse is extremely high.