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Journalism of Courage
Investigators have found that a letter from the Ministry of External Affairs put Hasan Ali Khans passport application in 1997 on the fast track,the passport was issued in just seven days,and it was collected by a person claiming to be the bodyguard of then Congress MP Iqbal Singh,who is now the Lt Governor of Puducherry.
It is suspected the letter was fake.
Seized documents show that the then passport officer M N Prasad issued a passport to Hasan (Ali) Khan on April 10,1997. Ali had applied on April 3,identifying himself as a resident of Alamganj,Patna,and a permanent resident of Belsand,Sitamarhi.
The file was sent to the Patna SSPs office the next day. On April 5,the passport office received a fax from A K Pande,who claimed to be Officer on Special Duty to then Union External Affairs Minister I K Gujral,instructing it to complete formalities to issue the passport to Ali by April 9,1997.
Prasad wrote back to VISAPASS,New Delhi,on April 10,1997: With reference to your telephonic instruction regarding the issue of passport to Sri Hasan (Ali) Khan,son of late Gayasuddin Ali Khan,passport bearing no. A-1519690 valid for one year has been issued and handed over to Sri Ashok Kumar,constable service number 632985,bodyguard to honourable MP Sri Iqbal Singh.
Puducherry L-G Singh,when contacted,told The Indian Express: I cannot comment without verifying facts. Patna Police is now trying to ascertain the identity of this Ashok Kumar.
The Enforcement Directorate believes that Patna-based AICC member and former Bihar Congress spokesperson Amalendu Pandey had posed as the ministers OSD,senior IFS officer A K Pande,and sent the fax.
The ED raided Pandeys homes and offices in Delhi and Patna,and seized documents related to Hasan Ali. Pandey is missing.
Sources said Pandey helped Ali cross over to Nepal in 1997 and flew with him to Singapore to open an account with UBS. Patna SSP Alok Kumar said: We are verifying the authenticity of all documents found at the passport office.
(With Rahul Tripathi in New Delhi)
