CBI registers case in army immigration racket

New Delhi, Nov 30 The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Friday registered a case against a senior army official and others for allegedly misusing their official passports for the purpose of human trafficking.

"A case has been registered against Lt. Col. H.P.S. Bedi, posted in the ceremonial and welfare directorate of the army, Harleen Chadda, wife of Lt Col. K.S. Chadda of the same directorate, and Lance Naik Suresh Babu, under the appropriate sections of law," a CBI spokesperson said.

"The case was registered after the defence ministry filed a written complaint before the agency requesting a probe into the matter," the official said.

Earlier this week, the CBI had asked the defence ministry to file a complaint before it so that a case could be registered into an alleged immigration scam involving army officials.

"In our letter to Defence Secretary Vijay Singh we have asked the ministry to file a complaint so that a case can be registered to initiate investigations into the matter. We have also asked them to provide all necessary documents pertaining to the case," a senior CBI official told IANS.

The alleged immigration scam involving army officials came to light earlier this month after four people were detained at the Delhi airport. They were held while trying to leave the country on official passports issued to the Army Headquarters Band for a performance in Germany.

Preliminary investigations by the army revealed that Suresh Babu, a soldier responsible for preparing travel documents, had made and sold four "extra" passports for Rs.50,000 each.

Shocked by the incident, the defence ministry asked the CBI to carry out the probe.

In March this year, parliamentarian Babubhai Katara was arrested at the airport while trying to smuggle out of the country a woman and a boy on his family's diplomatic passports.

Delhi HC notice to Ajmer shrine administrator

New Delhi, Aug 16 (IANS) The Delhi High Court Thursday directed the administrator of the shrine of Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti at Ajmer to appear before it Sep 26 to reply to charges of corruption and mismanagement levelled by an official committee.

A division bench headed by Justice T.S. Thakur asked the administrator, a government official from the ministry of minority affairs, to come to the court with all documents to reply to the charges made by a committee instituted by the government a few months ago.

During the hearing of a public suit filed by NGO Hum Aap Ke, the court observed, "The report alleged large-scale corruption by the committee and the administrator needs to explain this."

After the ministry of minority affairs received a large number of complaints about irregularities in the management at the shrine and the NGO filed the suit, a seven-member committee conducted an inquiry, examined documents and held hearings in Ajmer in February.

Headed by Ghayur-e-Alam and with Firoz Bakht Ahmed as its convenor, the committee noted in its report: "The very first impression is that of dingy lanes, haphazard shops, beggars and unhygienic conditions."

But the investigation brought to light more sordid aspects of the shrine management with money being spent without maintaining proper records, misuse of facilities, encroachment of the premises by unauthorised people and even sale of liquor in its vicinity.