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Times of India: Last week's Mangalore air crash in which 158 people were killed has had an unlikely upshot: It has brought into focus a thriving fake passport racket, known locally as "Kasargod Embassy" in Kerala's northern district.

It now transpires that at least 10 passengers on-board the ill-fated flight may have been travelling on forged documents, which has complicated their identification and insurance claim.

Sources said discrepancies were noticed in the passport details of nine deceased and one survivor, indicating that there might have been something amiss. Some Malayalee travellers had Tamil Nadu addresses on their passports. Kasargod collector, SP and ADM are now looking into the anomalies and trying to establish the passengers' real identities.

Kasargod Embassy, a term used for skilled forgers who manipulate passports by replacing the photo, first came to light in 1980s and has been thriving due to migrant workers' poverty and ignorance.

"They exploit poor migrants, who are mostly into casual labour. Sometimes sponsors in the Gulf refuse to return passports to the employees while some lose their documents and cannot fly back. They then approach these passport makers, who give them forged documents for Rs 25,000 to 30,000," said Vargheese Moolan, who heads UAE-based Global Malayalee Foundation. There have also been instances in Saudi Arabia where Haj pilgrims have sold their passports and slipped into the countryside. "These passports also reach the racketeers," said Moolan.

Customs officials recently detained a Kasargod youth, Nissar Panalam, with 31 passports, 15 international driving permits and 12 blank passport pages at Kozhikode airport.

Hundreds of similar arrests have pointed to Kasargod Embassy. "The agents are mostly in the district, but the operations are mainly carried out from the Gulf," said former Kasargod SP Ramdas Pothen. ADGP (intelligence) Siby Mathews said reports have been sent to government and that the racket has long existed.

"Checking them isn't easy as even travel agents and immigration officials are involved," said a official.