Officials found that AK Manzoor, owner of famous fried chicken company ‘ChicKing’, acquired eight passports with which he has travelled across the globe
Arun Lakshman, Thiruvananthapuram
NRI business man and owner of a famous fried chicken outlet AK Manzoor from Thrissur in Kerala would be charged with anti national activities for having possessed eight passports simultaneously which is a grave offense. The Immigration department has already moved the high court to charge him with the anti national activities case. Manzoor who has passports with nos Z3315979, M2307433, Z238065, Z2036027, Z 1836470, Z033600, F6616655 and Z1582873, has travelled across the globe several times, sources in the intelligence agencies said.
Manzoor is having the branches of his famed Fried Chicken company, ‘ChicKing’ in several parts of India as well as in the West Asian and African countries. Interestingly, it has also outlets in Pakistan and in Jammu and Kashmir and the intelligence is worried as to how many times Manzoor has travelled to Pakistan and what his interests were in that country. Manzoor has received these passports from the Indian consulate in Dubai illegally as he has to apply in regional passport office, Kochi for getting a passport.
The Nedumbassery airport, Immigration Assistant Director, Santhosh Nair has given his statement to the high court of Kerala on the number of passports which are in the possession of Manzoor and how he could have indulged in criminal and anti national activities.
Sources in the External Affairs Ministry indicated that there would be a detailed investigation on the part of the Ministry regarding how the controversial businessman had procured these passports simultaneously from Dubai consulate. With the Kerala high court to proclaim the verdict in the case against holding of several passports on February 19, there could be a stringent verdict against him as Police and other central agencies have given a negative report against him.
Mansoor was also detained on July 9, 2002 with live cartridges in his baggage. While the Chengamanad police had registered a case against him then, the files pertaining to it are not found now or rather these files have been deliberately destroyed. Manzoor, according to highly placed sources in the Central Intelligence is having direct links to the dreaded Islamic terror group, Al Umma which was banned following the Coimbatore bomb blasts.
The callous manner in which such a person was allowed to move around is itself a classic case of complacency, lethargy and negligence on the part of the officials concerned.
