Patna, March 24: Police seized two files related to stud farm owner Hasan Ali Khan’s Patna passport from the regional passport office today. Sleuths have also reportedly got some other leads into the seven-day “mystery” surrounding Ali’s Patna passport.

Acting on Patna senior superintendent of police (SSP) Alok Kumar’s orders, city superintendent of police Shivdeep Lande went to the passport office and seized files and papers related to Ali. One of the files is related to Ali’s passport application, while the other is related to his application for renewing the passport. The police spoke to passport office authorities to get important details.

Ali had applied for the passport on April 3, 1997. Police sources told The Telegraph that on April 5, 1997, a fax was received from A.K. Pandey, then officer on special duty (OSD) with the ministry of external affairs (MoEA), asking the Patna senior superintendent of police’s office to immediately complete the formalities for issuing Ali’s passport. Following this, the police verification report, compulsory for the same, was completed by April 6. Ali got his passport (A-1519660) from Patna on April 10.

Patna police, though stating that the verification had been carried out, are in a fix now regarding the authenticity of the fax sent.

With the Enforcement Directorate conducting raids in Patna and Bhojpur on Wednesday in search of Congress leader Amlendu Pandey, the fact that he is the same man who had sent the fax could not be denied, police sources told The Telegraph. “This needs to be ascertained as politicians have become OSDs earlier,” a police officer said today.

Pandey is said to have helped Ali in procuring his Patna passport and accused of taking him to Nepal subsequently. From there, Pandey took Ali to Singapore, where he helped Ali to open a bank account.

“The man was issued a passport in Patna in a matter of seven days despite indiscrepancies in his application form. A fax was received from the OSD, MoEA, just two days after he had applied for a passport. The fax directed all necessary police investigation be completed as soon as possible. After this, the Patna police office completed the said inquiry in two days,” a senior police officer said.