Minister Tiran Alles claims ‘mafia’ behind passport queue – Top Story

Colombo, September 10 (Daily Mirror) – Public Security Minister Tiran Alles has accused a “mafia” of being behind the long queues for passports at the Immigration and Emigration Department.

Responding to allegations made by National People’s Power (NPP) MP Vijitha Herath, the minister said at a press conference that the long queues reported recently were not due to a shortage of passports but to certain individuals having adopted the token system.

Earlier, during a press conference, the NPP criticized the government for its poor handling of the passport crisis.

Minister Alles revealed that a group of individuals with over 100 SIM cards booked the appointments and later sold the spots to the public for around Rs 45,000.

He said that as a result, this online system was suspended and a token system was introduced. However, this system was also adopted by the group, with tokens being sold to the public for Rs. 25,000 and Rs. 20,000.

To resolve the crisis, Minister Alles ordered the police to manage the queues. As a result, the situation has improved: the queues usually disappear between 10:30 and 11:30.

Meanwhile, Minister Alles denied reports that Immigration Service officials had traveled to a factory in Poland to inspect the passport production process.