E-Paper
Kingpin operating from Mumbai
HOW IS Prince Joseph Jowah, a resident of Nigeria whose visa expired on June 12, still in the country? This startling fact came to light when the passport of Prince Jowah was recovered here from the possession of detained dismissed naval officer Ramesh Prajapati.
HOW IS Prince Joseph Jowah, a resident of Nigeria whose visa expired on June 12, still in the country? This startling fact came to light when the passport of Prince Jowah was recovered here from the possession of detained dismissed naval officer Ramesh Prajapati.
Prajapati was arrested by the city police on June 14, following a tip-off from Military Intelligence, in connection with the black dollar racket.
It is being expected that soon at least 15 more key members of the racket will be arrested from different parts of the country. Secret information in this regard is soon going to be circulated among intelligence agencies.
So far, interrogation of Ramesh Prajapati has revealed startling laxity of government departments of strategic importance. The intelligence teams and the city police got a virtual jolt when they recovered the passport of Prince Joseph Jowah of Nigeria from Prajapati’s possession.
Prince Jowah is being considered as the kingpin of the racket and still is believed to be in Mumbai, running the racket of circulating black dollars in the country with his accomplices.
Strangely, despite the fact that his visa expired on June 12, the authorities did not bother to check his whereabouts. Sources in the intelligence department said Prince Jowah was the mastermind behind circulating black dollars. These black dollars, when dipped in a particular chemical, regain the original form of dollars and underworld people and drug cartels are given payments through these black dollars.
With the interrogation of Ramesh Prajapati continuing, intelligence agencies are expecting that the links of the racket may be connected to several metropolitan cities of the country, Mumbai being the focal point because black dollars are brought here from foreign countries and are circulated in different parts of the country through people of foreign origin as well as Indians.
With Mumbai emerging as the centrepoint, along with the fact that it is a place where hundreds of Nigerians, South Africans and people from ASEAN countries live, the intelligence agencies are a worried lot.
Ironically, Prince Jowah is still running the racket from Mumbai as none of the Ministry of External Affairs officials bothered to enquire why a Nigerian was living in Mumbai even after the expiry of his visa several days back.
On the other hand, interrogation of Ramesh Prajapati has proved that he is a hard nut to crack and the city police are progressing at a snail’s pace. Sources said the racket was bigger than expectations and black dollars were being circulated with ease.
Ramesh told the police that he had stolen the passport of Prince Joseph Jowah, but this is something the officials find hard to believe. Meanwhile, the city police lack coordination with other intelligence agencies and if the expertise of major intelligence agencies is not sought by the police, then some of the key figures in the racket might flee the country.
