The Hindu : Arrested for posing as MP

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Feb 04, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Arrested for posing as MP

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, FEB. 3 . A person, who allegedly posed as a senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and tried to get a senior Customs officer transferred to a place of his choice, has been arrested by the Special Cell of the Delhi police. The accused was arrested last year too when he allegedly forged the signature of the editor of a leading English daily to get a press gallery card for attending Parliament session.

According to the police, the Central Board of Excise and Customs approached the Special Cell complaining that a person, who claimed himself to Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, a BJP MP and the party spokesperson, called up several government offices seeking transfer of M.S.K. Rao, Joint Commissioner (Customs), posted at Mangalore. The places of preferences were Mumbai and Chennai.

The Special Cell took up the investigations and on the basis of the cellular phone records arrested, Syed Nusrat Ali (32), a resident of Jamia Nagar in South Delhi. He was arrested from Chandni Mahal on Monday. The police have recovered the cellular phone used for making the calls and also some other incriminating documents from the accused.

During interrogation, Syed Nusrat told the police that he had met the Public Relations Officer of Mumbai Port Trust, Vinayak Joglekar, and told him that he had good contacts in the Ministry concerned. Nusrat also told him that he was freelance journalist. Vinayak requested him to use his contacts to get a friend, M.S.K. Rao, transferred from Mangalore to Mumbai or Chennai. Nusrat was offered a handsome remuneration in lieu of doing the job.

Back in Delhi, Nusrat called up the Minister of State for revenue, personal secretary to the Minister of Finance, Chairman of Central Board of Excise and Customs, the Finance Secretary and the Revenue Secretary for the transfer.

Following the calls, the matter was reported to the police.

The police said Nusrat was arrested last year by Parliament Street police station for allegedly forging the signature of Shekhar Gupta, Editor-in-Chief of The Indian Express.

He was trying to procure a Press Gallery card to attend the Parliament session. He had already managed to attend five such sessions on the basis of forged identity proofs.

Earlier, in the 90s he was caught forging the signature of the then Railway Minister for allotment of quarters to a couple of railway employees. As of now Nusrat does not have any known sources of income and keeps shifting his base between Mumbai and Delhi.

Further investigations in the case are on.

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