A mobile court of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB-2) has sentenced five members of a passport broker syndicate to various terms of simple imprisonment following an anti-broker drive in the capital’s Agargaon Passport Office area.
The drive was conducted on Monday from 9:30am to 11:30am in the area adjacent to the Agargaon Passport Office.
The mobile court, led by RAB Executive Magistrate Kazi Tamjid Ahmed, sentenced two members of the broker syndicate to 15 days of simple imprisonment each, two others to 10 days each, and one member to seven days.
Deputy Director of RAB-2 Major M Mubin Rahman Tapas said that an organised syndicate of brokers had recently been targeting passport seekers who came to the Agargaon Passport Office or the adjacent bank to deposit fees. The brokers lured the applicants by promising to fill out and attest passport forms, resolve documentation deficiencies, arrange fake or irregular papers, and ensure quick delivery of passports.
If applicants rejected their proposals, they would harass and annoy them in various ways. Eventually, the brokers would trick them into paying hefty sums of money with false promises of fast-tracked passports.
Despite warning notices posted on noticeboards and public announcements made via megaphones by the concerned authorities, the brokers continued their fraudulent activities, prompting RAB-2 to increase its intelligence surveillance.
Following the surveillance, RAB conducted the drive and detained the five syndicate members. The mobile court passed the sentences after the detainees confessed to their crimes.
