New Delhi(IANS) : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Friday registered a case against a senior army official and others for allegedly misusing their official passports for the purpose of human trafficking.
“A case has been registered against Lt. Col. H.P.S. Bedi, posted in the ceremonial and welfare directorate of the army, Harleen Chadda, wife of Lt Col. K.S. Chadda of the same directorate, and Lance Naik Suresh Babu, under the appropriate sections of law,” a CBI spokesperson said.
“The case was registered after the defence ministry filed a written complaint before the agency requesting a probe into the matter,” the official said.
Earlier this week, the CBI had asked the defence ministry to file a complaint before it so that a case could be registered into an alleged immigration scam involving army officials.
“In our letter to Defence Secretary Vijay Singh we have asked the ministry to file a complaint so that a case can be registered to initiate investigations into the matter. We have also asked them to provide all necessary documents pertaining to the case,” a senior CBI official told IANS.
The alleged immigration scam involving army officials came to light earlier this month after four people were detained at the Delhi airport. They were held while trying to leave the country on official passports issued to the Army Headquarters Band for a performance in Germany.
Preliminary investigations by the army revealed that Suresh Babu, a soldier responsible for preparing travel documents, had made and sold four “extra” passports for Rs.50,000 each.
Shocked by the incident, the defence ministry asked the CBI to carry out the probe.
In March this year, parliamentarian Babubhai Katara was arrested at the airport while trying to smuggle out of the country a woman and a boy on his family’s diplomatic passports.