Passport aide to rein in Baba Ramdev

The UPA-II government on Tuesday asked security agencies to look into the allegations of the multiple passports of Acharya Balakrishna, Baba Ramdev’s close aide. Balakrishna allegedly holds two Indian and one Nepali passport.

Sources said security agencies have been asked to look into the antecedents of Balakrishna in Nepal. Balakrishna resurfaced in Haridwar on Tuesday after two days in hiding and insisted he was an Indian citizen by residence and has been living in the country for 11 years which is why he held an Indian passport.

But sources said that his nationality was not clear and he allegedly has two Indian passports. Security agencies were investigating the matter under the Indian Passport Act. Violating passport laws in India carry stringent punishment including imprisonment up to five years. Underworld don Abu Salem got four years of jail under the Indian passport Act.

And according to the 2006 Nepal Citizenship Act, citizens of Nepal who obtain citizenship of another country have to forgo Nepalese citizenship. Similarly, India also does not accept dual citizenship. Balakrishna, reportedly, has been holding on to his Nepali citizenship.

Balakrishna on Tuesday tried hard to prove his nationality. “My parents are from Nepal but I was born in Haridwar, educated in India, I am working in India,” he said, rubbishing claims that he had a forged Indian passport.