Two civic volunteers were detained on September 21 while allegedly accepting a ₹10,000 bribe from a passport applicant at the District Intelligence Bureau office in Haringhata, Nadia, according to a report by Sangbad Pratidin – Bengal.
The individuals were identified as Bandon Debnath and Raju Kirtaniya. Anti-corruption officials reportedly acted after receiving information that money was being demanded from a resident who needed to apply for a passport. The officials then planned an operation to catch the alleged recipients while the payment was being made.
The applicant had reportedly visited the Haringhata DIB office to begin the passport process. According to the report, the two civic volunteers told him that they could arrange the passport for ₹10,000. The applicant agreed to pay the amount in order to obtain the passport sooner.
When the applicant went to the office to hand over the money on Monday, anti-corruption officials also entered the premises. Debnath and Kirtaniya were caught during the operation and taken into custody for questioning, the report said. The report did not state whether a formal arrest had been recorded or whether charges had been filed against them.
The case has raised questions about whether the alleged demand was an isolated incident or part of a wider arrangement involving passport-related services at the office. Investigators are examining whether other people were involved, how much money may have been collected previously and whether a larger network operated around the process.
Passport applications follow an established procedure, and applicants are not required to pay unofficial charges to obtain a passport. The alleged demand, if confirmed, would therefore represent an attempt to convert access to a public service into an informal paid arrangement. For applicants, such demands can create pressure to pay for faster processing or assistance, even when the official process does not require it.
The report said the two civic volunteers were being questioned inside the Haringhata DIB office. Further details about the investigation, including the possible involvement of other individuals and the legal sections applied, were not available in the supplied report.
The immediate next step is expected to be the continuation of questioning and the anti-corruption authorities’ examination of the alleged passport-related payment and any evidence collected during the operation.
