Passport Renewal - Personal Particular Form

Hi,

I had applied for Indian Passport Renewal at SFO.
have received the email to fill out Personal Particular Form and to initiate police verification, as per email its mandatory as per new MEA rule.
email asks to fill out the form and send it attached in email. both India and US address.

is this new rule? Is it safe to reply to the email?
Kindly help advise on this as soon as possible.

Not heard of it before for passport renewal.

It may be a new process.