Exasperated after running from pillar to post to retrieve his passport, an auto driver from Dabeerpura finally knocked on the doors of the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC).
Syed Ibrahim, who had an Indian passport since 1987, was grounded by immigration authorities at the RGI Airport when he was about to take a flight to Sharjah in March 2017. Immigration authorities told him that his passport details were not showing up on their computer system. They seized his passport and he was asked to contact the Regional Passport Office (RPO).
When he went to the RPO, passport authorities directed him to come after some days as it was under verification by their Mumbai counterparts. When Ibrahim went on April 23, the RPO officers asked him to meet assistant commissioner of police (ACP) of Special Investigation Department (SIT), who suggested him to meet Dabeerpura Inspector.
“When I went to Dabeerpura Inspector, he, in turn, asked me to meet an inspector at Central Crime Station. This passing of buck, one to another, continued with CCS inspector redirecting me to assistant commissioner of police (Special Branch). The ACP, after verifying my earlier passport verification form, clearly told me there were no remarks. When I again approached RPO in July 2017, I was made to wait for five hours and then they asked me to again approach Hyderabad police,’’ Ibrahim said.
Since his three sisters live in various Gulf countries, he visited those countries using his first passport. After its validity was over, he got his passport renewed and again visited two different countries. It was on the third occasion, when he was about to take a flight to Sharjah, his passport was seized and Bureau of Immigration (BOI) gave a passport impound slip with a remark under reasons column “DRILS Status (Revoked)”.
Ibrahim wanted to go to Sharjah to see his ailing sister, but due to lack of communication between various departments, his passport was impounded and the reason for his helpless situation remained a “mystery’ even to this day. #KhabarLive
