The CBI has begun a preliminary inquiry against Balkrishna over allegations of using fake documents to acquire Indian passport. The agency will also probe whether he is holding multiple passports which is an act punishable under Indian Passport Act.[break]
The special crime branch of the CBI at Dehradun is said to begin probe into the allegations from Monday. A team from New Delhi will also be sent to Uttarakhand State for assistance in the investigations. The new probe is being made at the behest of the central government. Digvijay Singh, the general secretary of the ruling Congress Party of India, had public termed Balkrishna a "criminal", who escaped from Nepal.
It has been said that Balkrishna´s passport, which was issued in 1997, was renewed in 2007 by authorities in Dehradun.
A few weeks back, Balkrishna had held a press conference at Haridwar and claimed that all allegations were baseless. He told mediapersons that he was born in Haridwar although his parents and siblings live in Nepal. He also said that he was taken to Nepal as a three-month old infant but he returned when he was 11 and since then he continued to live in India. However, there are suspicions in India as to how he rose to such a powerful status within Ramdev´s multi-billion rupees establishment.
Balkrishna was, however, given a clean chit by the Uttar Pradesh authorities who investigated his documents earlier. It had said then that the documents used for acquiring the Indian passport were "not fake".
Balkrishna has been accused of using fake documents to acquire an Indian passport and also for obtaining license for arms. The centre had argued why he obtained the passport and arms´ license from Uttar Pradesh state when he is living in Haridwar in Uttarakhand state in India.
The allegations against Balkrishna were made after the central government cracked down on Ramdev´s hunger strike at Ramlila grounds in New Delhi on June 4.
Balkrishna, along with Ramdev, had fled the scene after police raid for fear of being arrested. Balkrishna came before the media four days later.
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