AK Mansoor, the owner of ChicKing Group of Restaurants, was found with eight passports flouting the provisions of Indian Passport Act. This offence seems like just one of the many this businessman has committed. Santhosh K Nair, Assistant Director of Immigration, Kochi has prepared a report on the passport offence and submitted it before the Kerala High Court.
According to investigations, Mansoor has acquired the passports fraudulently. The fried chicken chain boss holds seven other passports besides his original one. The seven have been said to be issued by the Consulate General of India at Dubai. The Kerala High Court had earlier ordered the Department of Immigration, Department of Revenue Intelligence and Kerala Police to carry out a thorough probe into the allegations against Mansoor.
With his fast food chain flourishing, Mansoor even started an outlet of Chicking in Pakistan. But his asscoaition with the country didn’t end there. In 2002, when Mansoor was returning from Pakistan, he was detained and eventually arrested at Nedumbassery airport for possession of three bullets. As per the report submitted by Santhosh K Nair, Mansoor’s actions of holding multiple passports and using them simultaneously were dubious and with ulterior intention.
Investigation on two passports has brought to light his various visits to places like Paris, Heathrow and Qatar. These passports being issued by a foreign consulate, despite Mansoor not being an NRI, remains to be investigated.
Mansoor also tried to acquire a renowned hospital in Dubai through dishonest means. He initially tried to gain partnership in the hospital by paying AED 50000 to Dr Razia Begum who is a consultant at the World Health Organisation. Later, with the promise of starting a hospital in Kerala, he procured a Power of Attorney from the doctor and eventually took over the hospital in Dubai.
Yet another pending case is that of his dealings with the founder of Reporter Channel, MV Nikesh Kumar. What started with Mansoor acquiring shares in the news channel, ended up being a case of trying to take over the channel. One of the many cases related to the issue, has been dismissed by The Chennai High Court.
Despite various business dealings in India, he has allegedly never paid any taxes till date. He also continues to hold several landed properties in the country. There is no clarity on whether or not AK Mansoor has been arrested. MV Nikesh Kumar wasn’t available for comments while going to press.
