A former office assistant of the Department of Immigration and Emigration has been arrested by the Nawagamuwa Police for allegedly possessing 48 passports belonging to other individuals for the purpose of preparing forged documents.

A fake machine used to examine security features on passports and currency notes, along with a smartphone, were also seized from the suspect.

Police said the Divisional Intelligence Unit of the Nawagamuwa Police received information that forged documents were being prepared at a residence in the Ihala Bomiriya area of Kaduwela to assist an individual in obtaining a visa through an embassy.

Based on the information, a team from the Anti-Corruption Unit of the Nawagamuwa Police arrested the suspect during a raid conducted on the instructions of Nawagamuwa Police OIC Chief Inspector Susantha Jayanath and under the direction of Sub-Inspector R.K.P.V. Shreemaal.

During questioning, the suspect reportedly told police that he had worked as an office assistant at the Department of Immigration and Emigration for around five years.

He had subsequently worked at a recruitment agency in Battaramulla and had obtained the passports from there, police said.

According to investigations, the suspect allegedly removed visa pages from old passports using steam and carefully attached them to new passports to make it appear to embassies that individuals applying to travel to various countries on tourist visas had previously travelled abroad.

The suspect reportedly told police that he charged Rs. 20,000 per person for the service.

Investigations have revealed that visa pages had been removed from around 15 of the passports found in the suspect’s possession.

The suspect, a 70-year-old man, is due to be produced before the Kaduwela Magistrate’s Court.