Anupam Dasgupta / DNA

Mumbai, Oct 5: New Delhi’s plan to issue e-passports to citizens early next year may come in handy for the country’s security agencies to scotch movement of home-grown terrorists. Sources in the security establishment told DNA that they considered the integrated chip on the back cover of the e-passport along with the holder’s photograph to be essentially an anti-fraud measure.

It is reported that the introduction of the e-passport is aimed at preserving the ‘security’ of the Indian passport, which had of late become a target for terrorists and criminals. “Passport-related frauds are common with radicalised home-grown jihadist terrorists, who often choose to move out of the country stealthily,” said a senior intelligence official. 

Identity frauds are an easy option for terrorists who sneak out with the objective of receiving training in subversion in another country only to return at an ‘opportune’ moment.

“The e-passports are expected to go a long way in deterring sophisticated forgers (terrorists) as well as simultaneously preventing fraudulent applications,” said Additional Director General of Police and state Anti-Terrorism Squad chief KP Raghuvanshi.

Government sources said e-passports had already been issued in the ‘white passport’ (which enables a minister or a bureaucrat to travel abroad for official work) category, primarily to put to test its technical viability. 

The e-passport microchip will contain relevant personal information about the holder. The information can be accessed by security officials and other administrative staff by swiping it against a special scanner. An ‘in-depth’ analysis of the passport application will follow the issuance of the chip-embedded passport.

Sources said that improving anti-fraud capacities in passports was a longstanding necessity, given the number of passport applications handled by the state capitals and other big cities across the country.

According to a rough estimate, the city's passport office alone handles around 1,000 applications every day, with the Thane office managing around 850 each day.

“Undetected frauds and tampering occur because of the number of applications and their issuance the authorities have to deal with,” said a senior passport department officer.