CBI gives clean chit to Brigadier in Army passport racket

Brigadier H P S Bedi (the Deputy Director General of the Directorate), who had earlier been named in a CBI FIR, has been cleared of all charges as investigators could not find any proof of his involvement in the organised illegal immigration racket.

The wife of a Lt Colonel posted in the same directorate, who was named in the FIR, has also been exonerated after CBI investigations found that they were not involved with Lance Naik Sureesh Babu, the main accused in the case. However, Babu has been chargesheeted by the investigating agency. The Army had come under a cloud in November last year after it came to light that Babu had forged at least 20 passports that were meant for ‘standby personnel’ of a military band on trips to Chile and Germany and sold them to touts.

While the Army’s internal inquiry has cleared all senior officers and has said that the racket was carried out entirely by a Lance Naik, the Defence Ministry handed over the case to the CBI for a thorough inquiry last month. The investigating agency had then filed an FIR against Brigadier Bedi, a Colonel’s wife and Babu. Bedi had been removed from his post and was attached to the Delhi Sub Area.