Ras Al Khaimah: Officials at the Transport Authority here, in collaboration with the emirate's police, found ten fake Pakistani driving licences when the drivers applied to work at the newly launched "Al Hamra Taxi" here.

Abdullah Al Awadi, the authority's Director General, said since the launch of the taxi service on February 25th, authorities have uncovered these ten cases in which Pakistani drivers submitted fake driving licences issued in a neighbouring Gulf state, with a recruitment agency in Ajman serving as intermediary.

Irregularities

Al Awadi said officials suspected the documents were fake because of irregularities. With the help of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the emirate's police their suspicions were confirmed.

He said police will take further action.

Al Awadi said the driving licences raised suspicion as one of the passports of an applicant was issued in his homeland, Pakistan, in 2003. The passport holder never left Pakistan. Al Awadi stressed that there were no exit or entry stamps in the passport at all, yet the man's driving licence was issued in a Gulf state after the passport was issued.

Officials decided to investigate the driving licensces. Al Awadi said they found the numbers on the rest of the fake driving licences were irregular, even though they were all supposedly issued in the same country. That was further evidence that the licences were fake.

There were no exit or entry stamps in the passport at all, yet his driving licence was issued in a Gulf state after the passport was issued.