Rajasthan ACB searches home ministry officer’s Delhi home in visa corruption case

Jaipur: Rajasthan anti-corruption bureau (ACB) searched the Delhi house of Pankaj Kumar Mishra, an officer of the home ministry, and allegedly recovered documents and other evidence, in connection with the alleged corruption in extending and transferring visas of Pak Hindu migrants. An ACB team had taken Mishra who is a Senior Secretariat Assistant (SSA) with the ministry of home affairs to Delhi for investigation. Mishra is currently in police remand.

Mishra and three other middlemen had been taken into custody by ACB from a hotel in Jodhpur on the night of May 17. His house in Delhi was sealed by the ACB. He was produced in a court in Jodhpur. The court extended his police remand period on Thursday. A team took him to Delhi on the same day and his house was searched in his presence on Friday. The three middlemen were remanded in judicial custody by the court.

Sources in the ACB said that Mishra’s office in Delhi may also be searched.

According to the ACB officials, Mishra was staying at Kasturi Orchid Hotel on Pal Bypass in Jodhpur when he was taken into custody.

The intelligence wing of the ACB in Jaipur got a tip-off about the nexus of some people in Jodhpur with Mishra. They laid a trap. Mishra was arrested from the hotel while allegedly taking the money that the middlemen collected from Pak migrants.

The three middlemen had migrated to India from Pakistan many years ago. They obtained the Indian citizenship and developed a nexus with Mishra. They would collect money from poor people looking to obtain citizenship or extend their visa in India. While Ashok and Govind worked as typists in a court, Bhagwan Das ran a garment shop. The ACB carried out searches at the garment shop and alleged seized passports and other documents belonging to nearly 200 migrants.