Hyderabad City Police Commissioner Balwinder Singh told newsmen that the case was booked by the Central Crime Station of the City Police against Tamil Rashtriya Samiti legislator Soyam Bapu Rao under sections 419, 420, 468 and 471 of the Indian Penal Code and also under the Indian Passport Act for allegedly morphing the photograph of another woman on the passport in place of his wife in a bid to send her abroad.
Bapu Rao, a dissident TRS MLA, represents Boath (Scheduled Tribe-reserved) constituency in Adilabad district in backward Telangana region. A former tribal teacher, Bapu Rao had gone into hiding after April 25 when his name figured in the human trafficking and passport racket alongwith other TRS MLAs. Incidentally, Bapu Rao celebrated his 38th birthday on April 30 in hiding. However, he gave an interview to a Telugu news channel in Nizamabad on Thursday, even as the police have launched a manhunt for him.
Dissident TRS MLA Kasipeta Lingaiah, who represents Nerella (Scheduled Caste-reserved) constituency in Karimnagar district, was the first TRS leader to surrender before a city court on April 27 for his alleged involvement in the case by obtaining a passport for a Gujarati woman in the name of his wife. Lingaiah is in police custody now.
Confirming the arrest of passport agent and kingpin of human trafficking racket Rashed Ali alias Rasheed, the Commissioner said he had no information about the visit of a Delhi police team to take him away. It was likely that the Delhi police would come with a production warrant for taking Rashed Ali into their custody for interrogation him in connection with the case.