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The Central Bureau of Investigation has started a probe into the issuance of passports to Abu Salem and his two wives under fictitious names and addresses by the Regional Passport Office, Hyderabad.
The RPO, which claimed to have cancelled the passports issued to Salem, Monica Bedi and Sabeena Azmi in March this year following an inquiry, has blamed the Kurnool district police and revenue and education departments for fudging the documents.
The RPO has also found fault with the postal authorities for "handing over" the passports at fictitious addresses in Kurnool town.
The RPO claimed that the passport applications were scrutinised as per normal procedure on the basis of proof of residence and date of birth certificate from the mandal authorities. The passports were issued after the verification reports were received from the Kurnool police in April and May last year.
"Transfer certificates" from schools also accompanied the passport applications. Salem, who styled himself as Ramil Kamal Malik, was said to have discontinued his studies in the 10th standard at the government school in Kurnool. Bedi, who masqueraded as Sana Malik Kamal, claimed to have studied only up to sixth standard.
The passport for Neha Asif Jaffrey (No B 5802568) was posted on September 18, 2001. The passports for Sana Malik Kamal (No B 5802508) and Ramil Kamal Malik (No B 5804689) were sent on September 20 and 28 respectively.
The RPO has asked the postal authorities to explain how the passports sent by speed-post were "delivered" at non-existent addresses in Kurnool. Not a single passport came back even though the addresses mentioned were false. Apparently, postmen had handed over the passports to the agents who, in turn, passed these on to the gangster and his lady companions.
However, the fraud was detected in February this year when the Intelligence Bureau got a tip that Salem and Bedi used these passports during a trip to Dubai. The IB, in turn, alerted the CBI and the chief passport officer in New Delhi. The information was passed on to local police.
Subsequent enquiries by the Kurnool police showed that the passports were indeed obtained fraudulently. The RPO cancelled the passports in March 2002 and alerted all the airports and checkpoints in the country. The IB also alerted the Interpol. But, by then, the gangster and his wives had reportedly fled the country.
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