LAHORE: Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi suspended two senior officers of the passport office, Garden Town, from service over irregularities and ordered a disciplinary action against them, during a surprise visit here on Monday.

During the visit, Naqvi witnessed a chaos-like situation at the office and noticed several irregularities being committed.

“Agents [touts] were roaming inside the office and dealing with security guards and officials, offering bribes. A machine was made intentionally dysfunctional. Moreover, a large number of applicants approached the minister and registered their complaints, informing him about the corruption and malpractices at the regional passport office, Garden Town, Lahore,” says a notification regarding the suspension of Deputy Director Fiazul Hassan (zonal head) and Assistant Director Muhammad Nasim.

The notification says the minister observed that the office was plagued by corruption, bribes being offered and a dominant agent mafia operating there. The token machine was also found to be malfunctioning, causing frustration among the applicants trying to get their passports, it adds.

Many applicants presented evidence that they had to grease the palms of the agent mafia to get their passports, it says.

The passport officers were unable to provide satisfactory answers to any questions of the minister.

Mr Naqvi assured the people that he was there to address their complaints and would investigate the matter personally. He emphasized that it was his responsibility to provide convenience to them.

Published in Dawn, April 30th, 2024