THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala Chief Minister V D Satheeshan has written to his West Bengal counterpart Suvendhu Adhikari, seeking urgent intervention in the passport renewal issue of former The Telegraph editor R Rajagopal.
Rajagopal’s application has been delayed following an adverse police verification report linked to the deletion of his name from the electoral roll under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). In his letter, Satheeshan noted that, based on the information available to him, the adverse verification report was due to the removal of Rajagopal’s name from the electoral roll.
He added that while the electoral issue was already being addressed through the appropriate appellate process, the police report had caused a delay in renewing the passport, and he urged the West Bengal Chief Minister to look into the matter urgently.
Satheeshan described Rajagopal as a well-known journalist who spent over three decades working in Kolkata, and noted that he was the son of Prof. V. Ramdas, the former state secretary of the Gandhi Smarak Nidhi, who was highly respected in Kerala for his public service.
Earlier, Rajagopal alleged that his passport renewal was stalled due to the deletion of his name from West Bengal’s electoral rolls during the SIR. He told media persons that on March 27 he was informed about the removal of his name from the rolls. He had applied for passport renewal on February 27, and his biometric verification was completed on March 19.
The next day, his application was sent for police verification. Still, he was asked to appear at the police station instead of officials visiting his residence, as is the usual practice. Rajagopal said the police first requested his voter ID card to generate an OTP. When he informed them that his voter ID had been deactivated, they asked him to submit multiple documents, including his matriculation certificate, PAN card, Aadhaar card, father’s death certificate, and property documents.
On May 20, a Kolkata police security control officer informed him that the verification process had been affected due to his name being deleted from the electoral rolls under the SIR. He was given a slip confirming the deletion of his name from the voters’ list. Subsequently, he challenged the deletion before a court.
He said passport verification was formally denied in writing on June 17 because his name no longer appeared on the electoral roll. Later, he secured an appointment at the passport office for July 17. However, no fresh documents were requested.
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