Hindu-Muslim couple get passports after Sushma intervenes
Lucknow, June 21: A Hindu woman married to a Muslim got her passport on Thursday, following External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj's intervention, barely 24 hours after a passport officer rejected her application on the grounds that she had not changed her surname.
Regional Passport Official Piyush Verma on Thursday gave the passport to Tanvi Sethi while the passport of her husband Mohammad Anas Siddiqui was renewed and also handed over.
Sethi alleged misbehaviour by passport officer Vikas Mishra on Wednesday when she had gone to the passport office here. She said her passport application was rejected on the grounds that she had not changed her surname even after 12 years of marriage to a Muslim man.
She later tweeted to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and Sushma Swaraj with her complaint. Both responded to her plea.
Passport officer Mishra has since been transferred to Gorakhpur and an explanation has been sought from him, an official told IANS.
Sethi and her husband said they were very happy at the alacrity with which the PMO and the MEA responded.
The officer accused of misbehaviour, however, denied the charges and said he had only told Sethi of the rules laid down in such cases.
Senior officials said that old rules mandated that a marriage certificate be produced in cases of inter-religious marriages during the passport application procedure, though adding that the officer was not right in ill-treating the woman and shouting at her.
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Jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi's brother Anmol held in US: Mumbai police sources
Mumbai, Nov 18: Jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi's brother Anmol, wanted for the murder of NCP leader Baba Siddique and firing outside actor Salman Khan's Mumbai home, has been detained in the United States, Mumbai police sources said on Monday.
Anmol, who was believed to be living in Canada and making regular travels to the US, is the younger brother of Lawrence Bishnoi, accused of running a global criminal syndicate despite being in jail.
Anmol Bishnoi is wanted in connection with several criminal cases, including the murder of NCP leader and former Maharashtra minister Siddique on October 12 in Mumbai's Bandra area. He was also allegedly behind the firing outside Bollywood actor Salman Khan's home, located in the Bandra area, on April 14 this year, according to the sources.
