Kolkata: A postal department contractual employee was arrested for his alleged involvement in a fake passport racket here, police said on Wednesday.

Police seized several documents, hard disks, a computer, and a laptop, all used in the manufacture of fake passports. The total number of people arrested in connection with the case has now risen to five, the officer added.

Dipankar Das, who was arrested from Behala in south Kolkata on Tuesday night, was found in possession of official seals from SBI, Indian Bank, photocopies of 36 Indian passports, and several copies of UK visas, police said.

On Sunday, police had busted a similar racket, arresting several people from North and South 24 Parganas districts, including kingpin Samaresh Biswas.

“Das was a key figure in the operation run by Biswas. He supervised the entire process of manufacturing fake passports, primarily to help Bangladeshis obtain illegal identities to stay in India and travel abroad,” the officer explained.

Das, who studied at Jadavpur University, reportedly collected documents from the postal department and later used them to create fake passports, the officer added.

The arrested persons have been remanded in police custody until December 26, the officer added.

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