Bakshi accuser was bullied, House told

Pete Hodgson says Kuldeep Singh was intimidated into backing down on his immigration complaint. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Threats and pressure from influential figures in India silenced a key complainant in the case against National MP Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi, Parliament was told yesterday.

Labour MP Pete Hodgson used parliamentary privilege to describe how the harassment left Kuldeep Singh so "desperate and very afraid" he gave up his complaint about Mr Bakshi's involvement in an alleged immigration scam.

Mr Hodgson said Kuldeep Singh was shut down soon after Immigration NZ officials began investigating late last year.

He read a statement describing how Kuldeep Singh, who lives in a village in the Punjab, was pressured by both police and political figures.

The sworn statement came from his friend Darshan Singh Saran, who is visiting New Zealand.

The statement said that when it became public that Mr Bakshi was under investigation in the lead-up to last year's election, "political people started to contact [Kuldeep Singh]".

"At first they asked very politely to stop what he was saying. When he refused to do that they started to threaten him. He even had one or two people from New Zealand threaten him."

The statement said police were also involved in the harassment, and because Kuldeep Singh's father was a heart patient he became increasingly desperate.

Darshan Singh Saran said he tried to help, and they visited the local superintendent of police, who told them "he had a great deal of pressure from the highest authorities".

The Herald has met Darshan Singh Saran, who said he was speaking out because he wanted authorities to investigate what had happened despite concerns about retaliation from sections of the local Sikh community.

A New Zealand-based associate of Mr Bakshi named in the statement dismissed it as "hearsay being orchestrated by some unknown person".

Kuldeep Singh had complained that Mr Bakshi made a fake job offer to support the 2003 residency application of Mr Singh's former wife Kamal Kaur.

They had paid $25,000 to the immigration consultant, Darshan Singh Bains, but Kamal Kaur did not get into NZ and they never got the money back.

Police are investigating the case.