Several corrupt officials in various Haj committees have been caught accepting bribes to accommodate fake Hajis for the holy Haj pilgrimage in Jeddah.
Journalist Aniruddha Bahl's Cobrapost, in an undercover operation, showed prominent members of the Himachal Pradesh Haj committee accepting Rs 15,000 on camera for fixing the draw of lots and include particular names in the final list.
Lakhs of devout Muslims apply for Haj, but in view of the fixed quota for each country, the government has directed the state Haj committees to select the names by lots.
The pilgrimage is subsidised by the government.
"The government sends a certain number of Haj pilgrims on a subsidised rate for the annual pilgrimage to Mecca during the holy the 12th month, Dhu al-Hijjah. This year the official quota has been fixed at approximately 1,00,000 and the central government has fixed the subsidy at Rs 28,000 per Haj pilgrim.
"Because of this high demand, some of the Haj Committee members have formed a nexus through which they illegally extract money from pilgrims," Bahl said in a statement.
"We have proven that Haj quotas are illegally sold and this could be a huge breach of security. The investigative team bought three such seats from Uttranchal Haj Committee Chairman Maulana Zahid Raza Rizvi, who has the status of a minister of state," Bahl told rediff.com.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the issue.
