Indian man questioned over abusive phone call to Khar

Police clear Ambaresh, a tutor in Karnataka, saying it was a ‘call made by mistake’.


News Desk February 14, 2012



An Indian man from the southern state of Karnataka has been questioned for allegedly calling Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar on her mobile phone, but has been released without charge, the BBC reported on Monday.


Indian police officers have reports that the man, identified as Ambaresh, had said nothing lewd or offensive and that he wasn’t even aware that the number belonged to Khar.

The inquiry was launched into the call, made two months ago, when the Pakistani Foreign Office asked New Delhi to probe the incident. Ambaresh was then tracked down by officers from the Intelligence Bureau and the crime branch.

Ambaresh, who works as a tutor, said he was shocked when police began to investigate his background and interrogated him over the call that was made from his mobile phone. He said it was possible that pranksters from the exam-coaching institute where he works used his phone to call the minister.

“I have neither heard of Khar nor do I know Urdu or English to abuse her. I don’t know if some student who resides at this centre used my phone,” he told Indian media.

“He is clear. There is no case against him,” police officer SB Bisnalli told the BBC.

According to an earlier newspaper report, the call had lasted 15 minutes and the caller had abused Khar. “This is not true at all. It was a call made by mistake,” a crime branch official said.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 14th, 2012.

COMMENTS (1)

Khalid Javed | 12 years ago | Reply

ET:

Why this news is being posted today again?

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