Click to play videoHyderabad: They say he's the brains behind it all, the kingpin of the human trafficking scandal that's claimed MPs from Gujarat to Andhra Pradesh.
Rashid Ali - a travel agent who is allegedly the key player in the fake passport scam - had gone missing when BJP MP Babubhai Katara was arrested on April 18. But he resurfaced on Thursday and surrendered before the Hyderabad Police, claiming he was innocent.
"I have no connection with the Katara case. I received threatening calls, so I surrendered. I will say the same thing in court. The police will help me out," says he.
Rashid's name had come up during interrogation into the Babubhai Katara case. Sources say Rashid had been sheltered until now by a sitting BJP MLA.
From there he reportedly sent the media documents detailing the involvement of five MLAs and three MPs in the fake passport racket, which led to the arrest of two MLAs from Andhra Pradesh.
But sources also say Rashid was only an assistant to a man named Shakil, a native of Bodhan in Nizamabad. Shakil contested a seat in the State Legislative council recently as an independent candidate, and lost narrowly, by only 11 votes.
He later fled to London when the racket was exposed. The Hyderabad Police have summoned Muzaffar Ali Khan, an ex-corporator of the TDP, for questioning. Rashid is believed to have made three calls to Muzaffar Ali Khan after he went missing.
The Delhi Police is expected to reach Hyderabad on Friday seeking Rashid's custody.
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