India, Sept. 29 -- The Ahilyanagar police on Sunday confirmed that they had issued a negative verification report on the passport application of notorious Pune-based gangster Nilesh Ghaywal, even as he managed to procure a passport. The disclosure comes a day after reports that Ghaywal had managed to flee abroad, allegedly to London, using a passport obtained with an Ahilyanagar address.

Police officials said Ghaywal's criminal record and multiple pending cases made him ineligible for a passport, and they had categorically marked his application as "negative" during the verification process.

District superintendent of Police Somnath Gharge said, "The application was in the year 2019-20. After reviewing it, we gave a negative report. Wha...