M A I N   N E W S

Puducherry Lt Guv, UP Secy to be grilled over Hasan ‘links’

Iqbal ready to appear before ED Jalandhar: Abhay Singh, son of Puducherry Lt Governor Iqbal Singh, while talking to The Tribune here on Saturday, said his father had no links with Pune stud farm owner Hasan Ali. If my father is summoned, he would appear before the Enforcement Directorate, added Abhay. — TNS Maya divests Pandey of powers Lucknow: The Mayawati government on Saturday ousted Principal Secretary Vijay Shankar Pandey from all crucial posts in the government after his name cropped up in the Hasan Ali case. It also described news reports establishing a link between the Chief Minister’s office and the money laundering case as “baseless”. — TNS

New Delhi/Puducherry, April 16
The Enforcement Directorate will question Puducherry Lt Governor Iqbal Singh and a top Uttar Pradesh officer Vijay Shankar Pandey for their alleged links with Pune stud farm owner Hasan Ali Khan.

Sources said summons have been sent to Iqbal Singh while the same to VS Pandey, UP Principal Secretary (Information), will be issued next week following questioning of a Bihar politician Amalendu Pandey by ED sleuths in Mumbai.

The two will be quizzed in connection with the passport procured by Khan and some investments done by him abroad. The UP officer was not available for comments. In Puducherry, a spokesman for the Lt Governor said no summons have been received from the ED.

“I spoke to the Lt Governor who is now in Delhi on official duties and he has denied serving of any summons on him so far by the ED or any other investigation agency. He has been in Delhi since April 13,” JP Singh, Officer on Special Duty at Raj Niwas, told reporters.

The OSD said Amlendu Pandey had approached Iqbal when he was a Rajya Sabha member between 1992 and 1998 and given him a passport application from someone known to him, who wanted treatment abroad for his ailments. Iqbal forwarded it to the then External Affairs Minister, IK Gujral, who in turn sent it to the Regional Passport office in Patna as per procedure, he said. — PTI