Satkhira Regional Passport Office has become a utopia of corruption. Passport seekers complaints that if there is a district-wise list of corruption, the passport office will be at number one. Director of this office Sajahan Kabir's list of crimes is so long and his pole is so strong that there is no one to hold him accountable. He does not even care about the Director General of Passports.
It must be shocking if the information that is coming out while investigating the corruption of Satkhira Regional Passport Office is made public through the media. Recently, it has been revealed that through Sajahan Kabir's syndicate, hundreds of passports have been issued by showing fake addresses of unions and villages in various upazilas of Satkhira. Those persons could not be found at the permanent address of the passport in several upazilas. The union chairman, members and locals do not know them, but passports have been issued in their names. They do not exist in the electoral roll and birth register. Many have complained that these passports belong to the Rohingya people. They have been used to travel abroad.
The search also revealed that such passports issued from Satkhira passport office were found. Passport issued in the name of more than one person under the same passport number. In Shibpur and Agardari Union of Sadar Upazila, a passport has been issued in the name of Sain Ara Akter, daughter of Latifur Rahman, using the village name Abaderhat. The traditional large Abaderhat of Satkhira Sadar Upazila is located between Shibpur and Agardari Union. Chairman of Shibpur and Agardari Union Parishads and respective UP members of respective Union Parishads and residents said that there is no village named Abaderhat in Shibpur and Agardari Union. There is a long standing market there called Abaderhat. When asked whether the passport holder exists, they said that there is no question of the existence of the person to whom the passport is issued, where there is no village named Abderhat in our union. These passport holders have been observed traveling abroad without the existence of an address. The newly promoted corrupt and bribe-taking director of the Satkhira Regional Passport Office has issued passports in the name of those persons with huge sums of money through brokers. Which is dangerous for the security of the state.
The other is from Chandimukha village in Gabura union of Shyamnagar upazila of the district. Passport from Satkhira Regional Passport Office with correct information. He did not meet his sick mother as he could not cross the immigration by paying the travel tax with a visa to visit India. Not only that, because he could not cross the immigration, he came to the corrupt officer of the passport office.
He suggested making another book. My book has a deadline, when I asked why I would make a book again, he started abusing me. Get out of the office. My office will run the way I run it. This is how this passport holder described it.
Meanwhile, three days of training from technical training centers is mandatory for those going abroad for work purposes in government agencies. Passport holders with visas from various countries undergoing training there have highlighted the endless corruption and suffering of the passport office. On the condition of anonymity, 90 percent of the trainees said that the form was submitted and returned several times even if there was no mistake in the form, including collecting extra money from visa holders in different countries and not delivering the passport after a month if the money was not paid. Not only that, in just one book, he highlighted the misbehavior of the assistant director, including accepting a bribe of 29,000 taka to correct the mother's name.
An employee of the Satkhira passport office (title DIP) said on condition of anonymity that more than four hundred forms are submitted daily. If you go to submit a form directly without a broker, there are various obstacles. If the broker submits the form without SMS, the applicant has to face the trouble of finding out the mistake in the form. Have to come again and again. If you submit the form through the broker, all errors are immediately submitted to the specified module.
He further said that there are two modules for submission of passport application form. Applicants have the same form submission line but the computer entry module is different. A module collects the entire SMS received list of the broker cycle controlled by the Assistant Director. Repeatedly through janitor lavloo (hiring in outsourcing) to save one to three thousand rupees in other modules. Only the form received by SMS is scanned and sent to Dhaka at specified time. Passport application forms of sick people are also pending for a long time due to non-payment of extra money. Actually they will have to go to the work of Lovelu and Aminur (DIP) for correction. Eight thousand for name correction. 8000 per year on age correction. After five years, 40,000 takas were taken from the passport holders by promising to send them to Dhaka. Shajahan Kabir Jharudar has developed a powerful broker circle across the district through Lavloo.
Some of the victims said on the condition of anonymity that since the joining of the current Assistant Director Sajahan Kabir, a strong broker circle has developed in the Satkhira passport office. Through this cycle, the assistant director is grabbing a huge amount of money every day. As the assistant director of Satkhira passport office is directly involved in corruption, helpless poor common people from remote areas of the district are regularly harassed when they come to submit forms for passports. No one dares to complain because their passports are urgently needed. Usually, no one can speak out against the corruption of the Assistant Director in matters such as medical emergencies, student visa matters, many on business abroad and emergency foreign travel.
Abdul Jalil Kayal of Shyamnagar, Rafiqul Islam, Rahima Begum of Asashuni, Sheikh Jalal Uddin of Sadar Upazila who came to submit documents for passport from different areas of the district, it is known that they have come to get passport through some broker. Most of them cannot get passports here unless they claim through brokers. Mistakes are made in the papers, or there is a long delay. In that case, they have to pay an additional three to four thousand rupees.
When Sajahan Kabir, Director of Satkhira Passport Office, was contacted directly at his office to find out about these corruptions and irregularities, he avoided some documents and expressed his inability to talk about some issues. Acknowledge the fact that 400 forms are submitted every day and avoid other issues. When asked about the matter, he expressed his inability to speak
