UP Officer, Who Denied Passport to Interfaith Couple, Raided by CBI; 45 Bank Accounts, Rs 12L Seized

Lucknow: A passport officer posted at the Regional Passport Office in Lucknow, who made headlines in 2018 for denying passport to an inter-faith couple, has landed in trouble again.

Three of Vikas Mishra’s houses in the posh Gomti Nagar locality and one house in Varanasi were raided by the CBI’s anti-corruption wing on Saturday evening.

A total of 45 bank accounts linked to Mishra and his kin, along with 26 fixed deposits and two bank lockers were found by the authorities during the raid. Cash worth Rs 12 lakh and jewellery estimated to be around Rs 5.5 lakh was also recovered.

The CBI officers are gathering more information about the 45 bank accounts that are supposedly linked to Mishra. When quizzed about jewellery worth lakhs of rupees, the passport officer reportedly could not give a satisfactory answer.

Mishra, who is currently posted as a senior passport superintendent at RPO Lucknow, was transferred to Varanasi after the incident of him denying passport to interfaith couple had gained limelight across the nation. Mishra had denied passport to Tanvi Seth who had married a Muslim boy and had even scolded her for marrying a boy from another religion.

The matter had escalated when Tanvi complained to then Minister of External Affairs, late Sushma Swaraj. The MEA had taken cognizance of the issue and had sought investigation in which Mishra was found guilty of not following the standard procedures and rules laid by the government in granting passport to Indian residents. Soon after the incident, he was transferred to Varanasi from Lucknow, while Tanvi and her husband were issued passports.