IN A MESS: TRS legislator Soyam Bapu Rao being taken to a court in Hyderabad on Friday. — Photo: G. Krishnaswamy

HYDERABAD: TRS legislator Soyam Bapu Rao and his wife Bharatibai had signed passport applications falsely claiming to be parents of three unidentified Gujarati children, police said quoting his confessional statement.

Mr. Rao, who surrendered to the city police on Thursday, confessed that his wife was not aware of his "illegal" work. The MLA, charged with securing passports for four Gujaratis in the names of his wife and three children, was produced before a court here and remanded to judicial custody on Friday for 14 days.

In his confessional statement, a copy of which is available with The Hindu , the MLA revealed that a fake marriage affidavit was also created using a morphed photo of a Gujarati woman with his photo. The MLA said he consented to this as Rasheed, the alleged kingpin in the fraud, had offered him Rs. 35 lakh.

Introduction to Rasheed

He maintained that his party MLA Kasipeta Lingaiah (already in judicial custody) introduced Rasheed to him as a travel document broker. "Lingaiah told me that Rasheed and his associates were sending Gujaratis to Western countries falsely claiming them as family members of legislators by manipulating documents," he stated.

The broker allegedly agreed to pay Rs.5 lakh in advance, but never stood by his word. Between November and December last, the broker visited the MLA's quarter at Erramanzil colony nine to 10 times for collecting papers and other details.

A Special Branch (SB) head constable Basith visited the MLA's quarter for verification of the passport application.

The presence of the Gujarati woman was required since her photo was pasted on the form. But Rasheed managed with the SB policeman to send a clearance report without producing the woman in question.

The SB official was convinced in a similar way when he wanted to verify facts about the MLA's three children. Mr. Rao claimed that he was not present during Mr. Basith's second visit.

Asked about his alleged involvement in the fraud while being shifted to Chanchalguda jail, Mr. Rao declined to comment saying the matter was sub-judice. He, however, maintained that he was not at fault.

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