01-10-2006, 02:20 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Retd intelligence man behind tap, allowed to flee country </b>
Pioneer.com
Pramod Kumar Singh/ New Delhi
Phone-tapping case ---- <span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>It appears that the real player who masterminded the tapping of Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh will never be caught. This mysterious man has safely left the country under official protection. </span>Â Â
<b>The "safe passage" to this man was obviously provided to ensure that he did not spill the beans about those who pulled the strings from behind the curtain in this sordid drama. The law enforcing agencies were in the know about his clandestine operations but apparently blinked when the controversy surfaced.</b>
Official sources told The Pioneer, the presence of this former intelligence official would have embarrassed those who were behind the illegal tapping of Mr Amar Singh's phone. This man was privy to the real conspiracy leading to the interception of all incoming and outgoing calls of Mr Singh's landline telephone.
Sources said this former intelligence officer had hired Bhupendra Singh, owner of Metro Intelligence Agency to arrange the nitty-gritty of the whole operation. Bhupendra was the first person to be arrested by Delhi Police in this connection.
The involvement of a former intelligence man has given a fresh twist to the controversy because Mr Amar Singh has all along claimed that the conspiracy was hatched by Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her cronies with the help of intelligence agencies.
It was suspected that a small-time private detective like Bhupendra Singh could not have been the real kingpin of the entire operation involving the phone tapping of a man as influential as Amar Singh. Sources said that Bhupendra Singh had identified the man who had signed him on for the lucrative assignment, but the authorities did not act on the tip off.
Sources said, apprehending that the arrest of the "mastermind" could unravel the whole conspiracy and expose his political patrons, the authorities made sure that he left the country.
<b>Interestingly Delhi Police investigated the matter more as a violation of the Telegraph Act though it has registered a case under section 120-B of Indian Penal Code for criminal conspiracy and sections 468/471 for forging an official document. </b>
<b>It was focussing more on the common intention of the three arrested namely, Bhupendra, Dr Anurag and Kuldeep rather than unearthing the criminal conspiracy behind this politically sensitive issue</b>. When contacted, senior police officers said that it was case of violation of privacy under Telegraph Act and forgery and it was beyond their brief to investigate the political aspect of the case.
Meanwhile, Delhi Police has sent Bhupendra's laptop, which was seized during a police raid in his office, to the Forensic Sciences Laboratory at Hyderabad so that the hard disk can be scanned. Reportedly, Bhupendra had used this laptop to store the details of Amar Singh's conversation with others.
Delhi Police do not have the tapes but they want to be doubly sure about the contents of the laptop. Sources in Delhi Police said that the investigation in this case has been almost completed and a report will be accordingly filed before the court how it all happened.
Police is believed to be looking for two more persons; Vijay Pal and Vikram who were involved in the tapping. Vijay Pal is being touted as the person who arranged the logistics to tap Amar Singh's phone while Vikram took care of the financial aspect, sources said. However, the police are yet to find who was financing Vikram Singh.
On Monday, several teams of Delhi Police Special Cell raided parts of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to nab Vijay Pal in connection with the tapping of the telephones of Samajwadi Party leaders. Sources confirmed that Special Cell has tracked down the hideouts of Vijay Pal and his arrest was imminent.
Police teams have carried raids earlier to nab the person on whose direction the letters of senior police and government officials were forged to enable tapping of the phones. "Raids are being carried out at several places," the sources said.
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Pioneer.com
Pramod Kumar Singh/ New Delhi
Phone-tapping case ---- <span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>It appears that the real player who masterminded the tapping of Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh will never be caught. This mysterious man has safely left the country under official protection. </span>Â Â
<b>The "safe passage" to this man was obviously provided to ensure that he did not spill the beans about those who pulled the strings from behind the curtain in this sordid drama. The law enforcing agencies were in the know about his clandestine operations but apparently blinked when the controversy surfaced.</b>
Official sources told The Pioneer, the presence of this former intelligence official would have embarrassed those who were behind the illegal tapping of Mr Amar Singh's phone. This man was privy to the real conspiracy leading to the interception of all incoming and outgoing calls of Mr Singh's landline telephone.
Sources said this former intelligence officer had hired Bhupendra Singh, owner of Metro Intelligence Agency to arrange the nitty-gritty of the whole operation. Bhupendra was the first person to be arrested by Delhi Police in this connection.
The involvement of a former intelligence man has given a fresh twist to the controversy because Mr Amar Singh has all along claimed that the conspiracy was hatched by Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her cronies with the help of intelligence agencies.
It was suspected that a small-time private detective like Bhupendra Singh could not have been the real kingpin of the entire operation involving the phone tapping of a man as influential as Amar Singh. Sources said that Bhupendra Singh had identified the man who had signed him on for the lucrative assignment, but the authorities did not act on the tip off.
Sources said, apprehending that the arrest of the "mastermind" could unravel the whole conspiracy and expose his political patrons, the authorities made sure that he left the country.
<b>Interestingly Delhi Police investigated the matter more as a violation of the Telegraph Act though it has registered a case under section 120-B of Indian Penal Code for criminal conspiracy and sections 468/471 for forging an official document. </b>
<b>It was focussing more on the common intention of the three arrested namely, Bhupendra, Dr Anurag and Kuldeep rather than unearthing the criminal conspiracy behind this politically sensitive issue</b>. When contacted, senior police officers said that it was case of violation of privacy under Telegraph Act and forgery and it was beyond their brief to investigate the political aspect of the case.
Meanwhile, Delhi Police has sent Bhupendra's laptop, which was seized during a police raid in his office, to the Forensic Sciences Laboratory at Hyderabad so that the hard disk can be scanned. Reportedly, Bhupendra had used this laptop to store the details of Amar Singh's conversation with others.
Delhi Police do not have the tapes but they want to be doubly sure about the contents of the laptop. Sources in Delhi Police said that the investigation in this case has been almost completed and a report will be accordingly filed before the court how it all happened.
Police is believed to be looking for two more persons; Vijay Pal and Vikram who were involved in the tapping. Vijay Pal is being touted as the person who arranged the logistics to tap Amar Singh's phone while Vikram took care of the financial aspect, sources said. However, the police are yet to find who was financing Vikram Singh.
On Monday, several teams of Delhi Police Special Cell raided parts of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to nab Vijay Pal in connection with the tapping of the telephones of Samajwadi Party leaders. Sources confirmed that Special Cell has tracked down the hideouts of Vijay Pal and his arrest was imminent.
Police teams have carried raids earlier to nab the person on whose direction the letters of senior police and government officials were forged to enable tapping of the phones. "Raids are being carried out at several places," the sources said.
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