NEW DELHI, Feb 14 (Agencies): The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on Monday released Pakistani singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan who was detained at New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport on Sunday for carrying a huge amount of undisclosed foreign currency, according to TV reports.
The 37-year-old nephew of legendary Pakistani qawwali singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was released along with his two associates, Chitresh Shrivastava and Maroof, who were also detained on Sunday, the reports said.
Rahat and his associates' passports have been impounded and have been asked to appear before the DRI on Feb 17. He will not be allowed to leave India for the time being.
The DRI officials on Monday swooped at the premises of "Eyeline Telefilm and Events", owned by Chitresh, elder brother of Bollywood singer Aadesh Shrivastava, and searched the premises.
Sources privy to the investigations claimed that the sleuths found Rs 51 lakh in cash which was seized besides some documents which could be helpful in the probe being carried out by the DRI.
The sources said questioning of Chitresh was carried out on the alleged cash seizure made from his Mumbai premises.
Rahat and his entire troupe, numbering around 16, were on in their way to Lahore via Dubai by an Emirates flight.
The DRI had allegedly seized foreign currency totalling $1.24 lakh from the troupe.
Earlier, interior minister Rehman Malik called Pakistan's high commissioner in New Delhi, Shahid Malik, to inquire about the detention of Rahat Fateh Ali Khan. According to a statement, Malik said he was examining the matter and had asked the Pakistani high commissioner to India to monitor the matter thoroughly.
However, media coverage of the matter has provided another burning issue for most of the Pakistanis who were already occupied with the controversy around the arrest of American citizen responsible for the killing of two persons in Lahore.
Dramatizing one liner tickers of mostly Indian news channels with strange alerting tones of breaking news, several Pakistani TV stations have confused the audience for not highlighting the legal aspects of the issue. Some channels went ahead to make an opinion as if a conspiracy was hatched by Indian intelligence agencies against the artist for maligning Pakistan.
"It is not for the first time that a Pakistani artist was mishandled in India. Earlier, Pakistani pop singer Adnan Sami went through a rigorous exercise in India and his property was confiscated by Indian authorities. Similarly, Pakistani comedian Shakeel Shiekh was threatened in Mumbai by an Indian extremist group Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS)," reported a leading Pakistani news channel on Monday.
Nonetheless, scores of Khan's fans in Pakistan also condemned his act for being unlawful.
"I am an ardent fan of Rahat Fateh Ali Khan. However, I do not approve of what he did. I just hope and pray it is his personal act and nothing more than that. Instead of getting emotional and making statements against each other, let the law take its course. We should have full faith in Indian judiciary in the same way as we would demand from anyone else for our judiciary," Umer Javed, a part-time singer and Islamabad-based lawyer said.
Imran Ali, another fan of Khan opined: "After becoming so popular in India, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan needed to be more cautious about their laws. Being a great admirer of Khan, I strongly condemn his act of tax evasion which earned a bad name to the country at a time when it's already struggling on several fronts."