Rasheed held, says top TDP men involved

By S.A. Ishaqui

Hyderabad, May 3: Mohammed Mazharuddin Ali, alias Rasheed, the alleged kingpin of the human trafficking racket, surrendered before the city police here on Thursday. His name had surfaced soon after the arrest of BJP MP Babubhai Katara at Delhi airport last month, which blew the lid off what is turning out to be a massive countrywide racket.

Rasheed has also been linked with trafficking and fake passport cases involving other political leaders.The police arrested Rasheed in connection with a passport case registered against him in 2006 in the city central crime station.

Sources said he had confessed to the police that two Telugu Desam leaders were also involved in the racket. He admitted to the police that he had arranged passports for TRS MLAs Kasipet Lingaiah and Soyam Bapu Rao.

He also confessed that he had paid Rs 11 lakhs to a TRS MP and Rs 2 lakhs to a Telugu Desam MP in 2003.Based on this, the police interrogated Mohammed Muzaffer Ali Khan, a former TD corporator ofAzampura division, to probe his links with the scam.

Rasheed came to the central crime station premises with his lawyer Muzaffer at around 12 noon and surrendered before additional deputy police commissioner B.V. Chandar Rao. He was immediately arrested and interrogated.Later, sleuths raided his residence in the Saidabad area and seized six passports and other documents.

The police also raided a house in the Asmanghad area belonging to Rehana, a relative of Rasheed.Sources said that Rasheed told the police that he was only a "tool" and that the racket was run by Mohammed Shakeel, alias Shameem, a TD leader.

Mr Shakeel had joined the TD just before the Assembly polls of 2004 and also contested the recent Legislative Council elections as an Independent with the TD's support. However, he lost the election.Sources said that Rasheed disclosed the names of several brokers, politicians, police officers and travel agents involved in the human trafficking racket.

The police is now zeroing in on them.Earlier, Rasheed told reporters that he was innocent and had never met Babubhai Katara. "I am a small broker," he said. "I have never met politicians. It was they who approached me for passports."He added that he did not remember whether Kasipet Lingaiah met him or not. "My life is in danger and I have surrendered only because the police started harassing my family," he alleged.City police commissioner Balwinder Singh said detectives were yet to verify Rasheed's statements.

The police team which searched the house of Muzaffer Ali Khan found photographs of TRS MP A. Narendra, Lingaiah and his family members, Soyam Bapu Rao and his family members, and some other crucial documents. The police also recovered four live rounds from the house.