Clean chit for Karnataka tutor who dialled Hina Rabbani

Karnataka tutor, who allegedly dialled Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani, is given a clean chit after investigators find out that he made the call by mistake and had no ill intentions, reports Vicky Nanjappa

Adding two zeroes to a phone number before making a call landed a tutor from Karnataka in a tangle involving the Intelligence Bureau and the Pakistan government. Never did Ambaresh from Buddini village in Sindhanur taluka of Raichur district imagine that the call would connect to Pakistan's Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar.

Though a section of the media has reported that Ambaresh had engaged in lewd talk with Khar, the officials from the Bengaluru crime branch, who detained and later released him, denied these allegations. The number was dialled by mistake, they said. The call records and other details have been checked, and according to investigators the call did not even get connected.  

According to the police, the incident took place two months back when Ambaresh was fidgeting with his phone. He accidentally added two zeroes to a number and to his ill luck the number that was dialled belonged to the Pakistan foreign minister, they said.   

The minute the call was made the IB tracked down the number. Also there was a general inquiry from the Pakistan foreign office asking intelligence officials in India about the number and the person who made the call. Following this, the IB tipped off the home ministry and a special team from Delhi was asked to look into this matter.

The case was then handed over to the Karnataka police, who along with the IB carried out a probe. The matter assumed importance as the call was traced to Raichur, which is under the IB radar. Several terrorist modules have been operating from this area, say sources.

Ambaresh got a rude shock when crime branch officials began questioning him over a call he allegedly made to Khar. In fact, he denied even attempting to make the call leave alone passing obscene remarks against the Pakistan foreign minister. "Pranksters could have used my phone to make the call," he claimed. 

Initial reports suggested that Ambaresh spoke to Khar for almost 15 minutes and abused her. However, investigations revealed that it was just a missed call and that too the number was dialled by mistake.    

It was an honest mistake, the investigators pointed out. Even the local police, who were part of this investigation, informed that Ambaresh did not have any wrong intentions. He appears to be a novice with the cell phone, they said. 

Moreover, the message from Pakistan on this matter too was a subtle one. They had not said that Khar was threatened or abused. It was a procedural inquiry about a call from India received by the Pakistan foreign minister from an unknown Indian number.   

Although Ambaresh has been given a clean chit by the police, his movements are being closely watched by the IB. He has been asked not to leave his town without prior information. However, this is just mandatory procedure until the air is completely cleared in this case, the police informed.