Don’t really know HA Khan: Racing fraternity

Investigators probing whether Khan stashed away wealth abroad,on Monday said Khan had failed one business venture after another.

Sources,desiring anonymity,said Khan’s links with some big politicians were also under probe.

He is believed to have left academics after passing Class 12 from a Hyderabad school and got into the business of selling antiques.

Khan is alleged to have passed off recent marble statues as antique pieces.

After this business flopped,he started a car rental firm in Hyderabad in 1970,which,too,had to be shut in 1988. Thereafter he started a scrap business in Dubai,which was closed down in 1993.

Khan entered the racing field in Hyderbad in 1991 with only two horses. In 1994,he joined the Mahalaxmi Racecourse in Mumbai.

His horse racing activities later touched Pune,Bangalore,Chennai and Delhi. He is said to have expanded his racing business to Switzerland and London,too.

Khan was a member of the Royal Western India Turf Club (RWITC) in Pune and is now believed to have only four horses,from about 10 in 2007.

He met with considerable success in racing but failed in all other ventures.

After losing in the antiques,car rental and scrap businesses,Khan is said to have started a jewellery shop in Kuwait with a partner based in Jammu and Kashmir sometime in 2006-07. This partnership,which is also under probe,however,did not work out for long. A metal trading company he started,Great Ventures,also went bankrupt,sources said.