Residents are facing a tough time with the passport verification process in the city. They have alleged that bribes are being taken for police verification across different police stations in the city.
People have also alleged that the entire process of passport verification is sometimes very slow and delivery of their passports takes a lot of time, creating a problem for those who need their passports urgently.
A city resident, Bipin Hazarika, who had applied for the passports for his parents 10 days ago told G Plus that at the police verification stage, when they went to verify their documents at the Bharalumukh police station, the police officials demanded a bribe.
He, however, refused to pay them and also approached higher authorities to complain about the matter.
“They were asking for Rs 500 to Rs 1000 to verify the documents but we did not pay them. I hope that the passports do not get delayed because of this,” said Hazarika.
When approached, officer-in-charge of Bharalumukh police station, Manikant Chamuah, said that they will now conduct the passport verification online which would be a huge relief to the residents.
Further, regarding the alleged bribes being asked for by the police officials, he said that he has instructed the personnel in his police station not to take any bribe from anyone.
In another instance, a resident of Athgaon, Yash Jain, informed that after a smooth document verification process at the regional passport office, the police verification process took a lot of time for him. He had applied for the passport along with his sister.
Interestingly, his verification too was also in Bharalumukh police station where the officials asked him for a bribe of Rs 500 per person.
“We had to go to the police station thrice for the police verification as the officials asked us to get different documents every time. After the passports did not arrive for a long time, we finally went to the SP office to check,” said Jain, adding that they came to know from the SP office that their documents were all clear but the passports were yet to reach them.
Finally, the passport reached Jain after a month, he informed.
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Similarly, many passport verification requests remain pending with various police stations in the city and in some cases the police take around two to three months to complete the verification.
According to sources in Crime & Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS), the police verification process is expected to be completed within 15 days, which is currently taking longer.
Further, staff shortage at police stations across the city is also one of the reasons for the delay in police verification, informed authorities.
