First witness RPO Reddy was meant to tell how Ali allegedly obtained the second passport when his first passport had already been impounded by police for his involvement in an another criminal case.
At a time when Telangana police brass claim to be striving towards maximum conviction rate, Nampally court has acquitted Pune-based stud farm owner Hasan Ali in a multiple passports case as investigators failed to produce key witnesses, including the sub-inspector who filed the FIR & an IFS officer.
It was in 2011 that the then regional passport officer (RPO) Kopula Srikar Reddy lodged a complaint with Hyderabad police alleging that Hasan Ali had obtained a second Indian passport through fraudulent means by showing his residence in Banjara Hills. In the chargesheet, Central Crime Station (CCS) sleuths listed six witnesses — RPO Srikar Reddy, assistant RPO Vijay Lakshmi, Hasan Ali’s first wife Mahaboobunissa Begum, CCS sub-inspector Vijay Kumar & investigation officers — Sharath Kumar & M Srinivasulu.
But during the trial, sources in Hyderabad police said, the probe failed to produce three key witnesses — Srikar Reddy, Mahaboobunissa & SI Kumar.
First witness RPO Reddy was meant to tell how Ali allegedly obtained the second passport when his first passport had already been impounded by police for his involvement in an another criminal case.
The RPO was also required to explain how Ali’s passport application was processed, especially the signatures. But Srikar Reddy got transferred on a diplomatic mission & his sub-ordinate was deputed to depose during the trial. But court did not consider this.
Similarly, Mahaboobunissa, who is from the Paigah family, was another crucial witness who was to confirm that Ali possessed a second passport. The investigators failed to produce her too.
The worst part was the failure to produce sub-inspector Vijay Kumar — he was the one who registered the FIR based on the complaint given by then RPO Reddy.
Though ARPO Vijay Lakshmi & the two investigators, Sharat Kumar & Srinivasulu, deposed in court, Ali was acquitted. During the probe, police even failed to get the signature verified by a forensic science laboratory.
This is not the first case in recent times where Hyderabad police failed to produce key witnesses.
Earlier, after holding press conferences to declare the arrest of 11 members, including five Sheikhs from Oman, for allegedly entering into contract marriages in 2017, police failed to produce the 17-year-old victim & her mother, who was the complainant, before the Nampally court. As a result, in October 2018 the court acquitted all the 11.
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