Rebel Telangana Rashtra Samithi legislator Kasipeta Lingaiah, against whom Hyderabad city police registered a case in connection with the human trafficking scam, surrendered before a city magistrate's court on Friday morning.
The VIIIth Metropolitan Magistrate remanded him to judicial custody for 14 days.
The Central Crime Station of Hyderabad city police had booked the case against Lingaiah for obtaining a passport for a Gujarati woman, claiming that she was his wife.
The passport carried the picture of Gujarati woman Anuradha Patel and not that of his real wife, Tara.
The city police informed Assembly Speaker K R Suresh Reddy about the MLA's alleged involvement in the case.
Hyderabad City Police Commissioner Balwinder Singh said, "We made inquiries with Karimnagar district police about the passport obtained by Lingaiah on a fake identity. Prima facie, the legislator and the unidentified (Gujarati) woman are at fault. The case was booked against the duo under Sections 419 and 420 of Indian Penal Code and various sections of Indian Passport Act."
"We have asked for documents submitted by the MLA and the woman from the Regional Passport Office. Once we gather material evidence, we will question the legislator. Karimnagar police have found that the photograph on the passport issued to the unidentified Gujarati woman is not that of the MLA's wife Tara," he added.
The legislator represents Nerella (Scheduled Caste-reserved) constituency in the state Assembly.
Karimnagar police had informed the city police that the MLA obtained a passport for one Anuradha Patel of Gujarat in the name of his wife.
Police Constable Digamber Singh, who conducted the passport verification of Lingaiah's fictitious wife, told the police bosses that when he visited the MLA Quarters at Errum Manzil Colony in the city, Lingaiah had introduced the woman as his wife.
When the constable asked for documents, the MLA gave photo-copies of the marriage affidavit, date of birth certificate and occupation certificate.
Investigations by the police so far indicated that Lingaiah secured the impugned passport from the Regional Passport Office, Hyderabad, on January 25, 2007, for the unidentified woman in his wife's name.
He substituted his wife Tara's photograph with that of the accused woman. Tara's photograph was replaced even in the photocopy of the ration card submitted for identity proof.
While the ration card had a Karimnagar address, his MLA quarters address in Errum Manzil Colony in Hyderabad was given in the passport application.
The city police said that it would use the tampered ration card and the affidavit submitted with the joint photograph of the MLA and his wife Tara as material evidence in the case.
A hunt has been launched by the police to nab the Gujarati woman for cheating and impersonation. Police sources suspect that the elusive Gujarati woman might have used the passport to fly abroad from any of the international airports in the country other than Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad.
© 2024 Rediff.com -