Pakistan High Commission Visit DRI office

New Delhi (PTI) - Pakistan High Commission
officials Monday visited the DRI zonal office where singer
Rahat Fatheh Ali Khan is detained in connection with alleged
seizure of a huge amount of foreign currency.
The three officials left after spending about 30
minutes at the DRI office, sources said. It was not
immediately clear whether they had come to get access to the
singer or meet DRI officials.
Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) Chairman S
Dutt Majumdar has said that there are "clear violations of
excise laws and the singer and his troupe are being
interrogated currently."
He has said the amount that they were carrying was
"much above" the allowed limit.
The singer was last evening detained at the IGI
airport by DRI officials after he and two of his troupe
members were caught allegedly carrying 1.24 lakh USD (about Rs
60 lakh) in undeclared foreign currency.
Rahat (37) and his entire troupe, numbering around 16,
including his manager Maroof and event manager were detained.
The troupe was on in its way to Lahore via Dubai by an
Emirates flight.
A nephew of Pakistani singing legend Ustad Nusrat
Fateh Ali Khan, Rahat is a top Bollywood playback singer and
has several hit numbers to his credit. He won the Filmfare
Award for Best Male Playback Singer this year for 'Dil To
BachchaHai Ji' from the movie 'Ishqiya'.
"The DRI officers found altogether 1,24,000 USD which
is equivalent to about Rs 60 lakhs. 24,000 USD were found
from the baggage carried by Rahat while the remaining 50,000
USD each were found from the baggage of two troupe members,"
Majumdar had said yesterday.
The recovered foreign currency included USD 10,000
and USD 8,600 in demand drafts, sources had said.