A total of 604 cases of forgery in foreigners' passports and travel documents have been reported in the first nine months of this year.
Cases of forgery in foreigners' passports have increased in the past three years as 604 such instances have been reported till September this year, the government said today.
These are in addition to 130 such cases of forgery in Indian passports, it said.
A total of 604 cases of forgery in foreigners' passports and travel documents have been reported in the first nine months of this year. Of these, 137 were of forgery in visa, 30 of impersonation and 272 were related to others cases including obtaining Indian passport fraudulently, Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju told Lok Sabha in a written reply.The government has registered 264 such cases last year, as against 310 in 2013 and 289 in 2012, he said.
Besides, the Home Ministry has registered 720 cases of forgery in Indian passports and travel documents between January and September, this year. Of these, 130 were of forgery in passport, 63 of visa frauds and 51 were related to photo substitution, among others, the Minister said.
As many as 1,049 such cases were registered last year, 1,811 in 2013 and 1,311 in 2012, he said.
"Prompt action is taken as and when such cases are detected. Accused persons are apprehended by the concerned public authorities and appropriate action is taken against them as per law," Mr Rijiju said.
These all cases were detected at immigration check posts under the control of Bureau of Immigration. "The state-wise data of forgeries detected in travel documents are not maintained centrally in the Ministry of Home Affairs," he said.