Police in the southern Indian state of Karnataka have questioned a man for calling Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar on her mobile phone, but have released him without charge. Senior police officers denied reports that the man, named Ambaresh, had engaged in lewd or offensive talk, BBC reported.
The officers said he did not even know that the number was Rabbani Khar's. Pakistan's foreign office had asked India to inquire into the call, which was made two months ago. Ambaresh said he got the shock of his life when police began investigating his background and questioned him about the call made to Rabbani Khar from his mobile phone.
He works as a tutor at an exam-coaching institute and said it was possible pranksters had used his phone to call the minister. He told local media: "Neither have I heard of Rabbani 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."
Officers from the intelligence bureau and the crime branch tracked him down after Pakistan requested an inquiry into the call. "He is clear. There is no case against him," police officer SB Bisnalli said. Earlier, a newspaper report said the call had lasted 15 minutes and the caller had abused Rabbani Khar. "This is not true at all. It was a call made by mistake," a crime branch official said.