Is Hasan Ali fibbing?

HYDERABAD: The police are still in the dark whether the alleged money launderer Hasan Ali’s claim of stashing the precious jewellery of the Nizam in the Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS) is true or not. And the information provided by the Reserve Bank of India officials that the Nizam’s jewels are still intact with them only adds to the confusion. Hasan Ali had earlier confessed to the Enforcement Directorate officials that he had stashed away Nizam’s jewellery along with some other artifacts at the UBS. But during the investigation police found that all the 173 jewellery items belonging to the Nizam were intact with the RBI. “There is a lack of clarity since the Enforcement Directorate officials had not quizzed Hasan Ali further about the Nizam’s jewellery and its source of access to them. ED officials only concentrated the investigation on the allegations of money laundering,” sources said. As reported by Express on Tuesday, Central Crime Station (CCS) police had moved a petition in the Nampally criminal court to permit them to question Hasan Ali, who is presently lodged in Mumbai jail, so as to obtain further details. The decision of the court on the petition will be known on June 3. In 1979 some of the Nizam’s family members had decided to sell the jewellery through an international auction. But the Supreme Court had to interfere after a petition was moved against the auction citing that the Nizam’s jewellery were antiques and should be declared as national wealth. The central government then decided to buy the jewellery by fixing a price as suggested by an arbitrator. “Initially the family members demanded Rs 225 crore for the 173 items. But later the selling price was fixed at Rs 180 crore. Since then the jewellery is kept in the RBI locker,” sources said. Whenever the jewellery is kept for display either at Salarjung museum or any other part of the country, unprecedented security is provided by central forces. Even the senior officials of Salarjung museum are not spared and have to undergo frisking before gaining entry.  Sources said that the missing gaps in Hasan Ali’s confession can be filled only after the police questions him regarding the case. This makes the June 3 decision of the court all the more critical.