As per the official notification issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Sharma will be inducted into CBI as DIG on deputation basis for a period of five years from the date of assumption of charge of the post or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
In a letter to the Odisha Chief Secretary, the MHA has asked the state authorities to relive Sarah Sharma immediately to enable her to take up the new assignment at the Centre.
Earlier, the tenures of two senior officers in the probe agency were also been approved.
The tenure of P Murugan, DIG, has been extended till March 15, 2027. Similarly, the deputation tenure of Vidyut Vikash, currently a Superintendent of Police in the agency, has been extended up to February 18, 2025.
Fear of CBI & ED
The ruling BJD dispensation had sleepless nights over the same chit fund scam during the 2014 elections. The case hasn’t been closed yet. Even today, lakhs of affected small investors are waiting to get back their hard-earned money. Meanwhile, many have already died.
Odisha Congress chief Sarat Pattanayak said the BJD is opting for an alliance with the BJP in fear of the CBI and the ED.
Opposition parties have been alleging that the BJP has been using the investigative agencies as a weapon in states where the saffron party is not in power.
The NDA has set its eyes on capturing 400-plus seats which is why it is said to be mounting pressure on the BJD.
Damage control by BJD
When the Chit Fund scam in West Bengal came to the fore in 2013, the links in Odisha also got revealed and many BJD leaders’ involvement was alleged.
Fearing the issue may cause a problem in the 2014 general elections, the Odisha government took a damage control move. It set up an investigation commission chaired by Justice Patra to identify the leaders and officers involved and to punish them.
In another move, the state government also announced the formation of a corpus fund of Rs 300 crore so that the affected depositors can get back their money. Then the depositors welcomed the government’s decision.
Wait continues for investors
By the time when the Odisha people will be exercising their franchise in the 2024 elections, the chit fund scam probe would have completed 10 years. During these 10 years, the state has witnessed two elections. The 2024 election dates may get announced at any time. But the affected depositors’ wait is yet to end.
Meanwhile, several raids have been conducted by the Crime Branch, the CBI, and the ED and the case has gone from the Orissa High Court to the Supreme Court. After the death of Justice Patra, the tenure of Justice Das also ended but not the plight of the depositors.
The case was transferred to the CBI after the three-member division bench led by Justice BR Pati and TS Thakur delivered its decision that several financial organisations including Sarada have misappropriated crores of money in Odisha, West Bengal, Tripura, and Assam.
With the case being transferred to the CBI, the affected depositors were hopeful that they would soon get back their money. But nothing of that sort has happened. They are still waiting for their money and justice.
Last year, the state government informed the Supreme Court through an affidavit that it disbursed Rs 83.46 crore among 2.10 lakh depositors by November 2022.
(By Dilip Sabat)
The suspended Trinamool Congress leader is the accused mastermind in the January 5 attack at Sandeshkhali.
The CBI has filed a total of three FIRs in the two cases of attacks on ED and CAPF officials on January 5 and submitted the FIRs at the Basirhat Sub-Divisional Court in North 24 Parganas District.
Out of the three FIRs, two are against Sheikh Shahjahan in connection with the attack in front of his residence at Sandeshkhali. Sources said the charges of attempt to murder have been included to those two FIRs.
The third FIR is against another Trinamool Congress leader from Bongaon also in North 24 Parganas District, Shankar Adhya, who is already in judicial custody in connection with the multi-crore PDS case.
On the night of January 5, when the ED sleuths were taking Adhya away after arresting him, his followers attacked the ED’s men and also made an attempt to stop them from taking him away.
Sources said that initially charges under Section 307 of the IPC were not included in the two FIRs against Sheikh Shahjahan. However, earlier this week the ED’s Deputy Director, G Varil, had detailed discussions with the CBI sleuths in the matter and after due consideration, attempt to murder charges against Sheikh Shahjahan were added to the FIRs.
G Varil was the one to file the initial complaint at a local police station on the attack on ED sleuths on January 5.
Meanwhile, Sheikh Shahjahan will be presented at Basirhat Sub-divisional Court on Saturday and the CBI will be seeking extension of his custody.
Soon after the Calcutta High Court directed the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the West Bengal police to hand over Shahjahan to the custody of CBI by 4.15 p.m. on Wednesday, a central agency team reached the CID headquarters at Bhabani Bhavan in Kolkata, where Shahjahan was housed since his arrest on February 29.
However, the CBI team had to wait for over three hours to get Shahjahan's physical custody.
As the CBI team waited at the Bhabani Bhavan, the CID officers took Shahjahan to the state-run S.S.K.M. Medical College & Hospital for a medical check-up.
Shahjahan was handed over to the CBI team after he was brought back to the CID headquarters following the medical check-up. Finally, at around 7 p.m., the convoy of CBI vehicles left Bhabani Bhavan.
A visibly shattered Shahjahan could be spotted sitting silently on the backseat of one of the vehicles in the convoy.
From Bhabani Bhavan, Shahjahan was first taken to the Central government-run E.S.I. Hospital in Joka for a second round of medical check-up. After the medical examination, he will be taken to CBI’s Nizam Palace office in central Kolkata.
On Tuesday, a CBI team had gone to the Bhabani Bhavan to take Shahjahan into custody after the Calcutta High Court directed the CID to hand the accused over to the central agency at the earliest.
However, the CBI officers left empty-handed from the Bhabani Bhavan, as the state government had by then moved the Supreme Court challenging the high court order.
While the CBI is listed in the Second Schedule of the RTI Act, which includes organisations exempt from the Act, the court clarified that this exemption doesn't mean the entire Act is inapplicable to such entities.
Justice Subramonium Prasad stated that the proviso to Section 24 permits information concerning allegations of corruption and human rights violations to be made available to the applicant.
This cannot be included in the exception provided to organisations mentioned in the Second Schedule.
The court's decision came in response to a case where Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer Sanjeev Chaturvedi, the Chief Vigilance Officer of AIIMS, sought information from the CBI about corruption allegations in AIIMS.
The court directed the CBI to provide Chaturvedi with the requested information.
Justice Prasad rejected the CBI's argument that Section 24 of the RTI Act acts as a complete bar and exempts the agency from RTI provisions.
The court said that the case did not involve sensitive investigations that could endanger the lives of CBI officers.
However, it clarified that, in appropriate cases, the CBI can establish that certain information is sensitive, allowing them to refuse its disclosure.
The convict has been identified as Duryodhan Sethy, the branch manager of Odisha Gramya Bank’s Dadaraghati Branch in Dhenkanal.
Sethy had demanded a bribe from a person for processing a poultry loan proposal of Rs. 4.25 lakh in favour of his wife. The victim had sought the CBI’s intervention following which a case was registered on August 8, 2016, against Sethy, and subsequently a trap was laid.
Also Read: Odisha Vigilance raids properties of Malkangiri JE in DA case
As per the plan, the complainant gave Sethy Rs 5000 as bribe on August 9, 2016. The CBI sleuths caught him red-handed while accepting the bribe.
After an investigation, a charge sheet was filed on October 27, 2016, and the court held the accused guilty after the trial.
Earlier on January 25, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had caught Goods and Services Tax (GST) superintendent, Amar Kant Kumar red-handed while accepting a bribe from a contractor in Sundargarh district’s Rourkela.
The arrested GST superintendent has been identified as Amar Kant Kumar.
According to sources, Kumar had demanded Rs 50,000 from a contractor to get his file cleared. The contractor had informed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Subsequently, the CBI sleuths laid out a trap to catch the officer red-handed.
Also Read: RI, peon arrested for accepting Rs 10,000 bribe in Odisha’s Koraput
As per the plan, the contractor on Thursday went to the GST office at Civil Township in Rourkela and handed the first instalment of Rs 20,000 over to Kumar. As Kumar accepted the money, the CBI officials trooped into the room and caught him red-handed.
No responses from the CBI or the GST Commissioner have been received.
His visit triggered speculations as it comes close on the heels of a massive I-T crackdown in the State. His official visit to the regional office of the CBI assumes much importance after the seizure of a whopping Rs 350 crore cash from liquor traders. Income Tax officials conducted raids for six days on distillation centres of liquor maker Boudh Distillery Pvt Ltd at Bolangir, Titilagarh and Sambalpur.
Sources said the CBI official may also discuss preparations and strategies to deal with the pending cases.
Following the massive haul of cash from the liquor makers in Odisha, political parties have been demanding a probe by the CBI or the ED into the alleged illegal cash stash by Boudh Distillery which is owned by a Congress MP of Jharkhand, and links of other liquor makers in Odisha.
The leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had repeatedly trained their guns at the Congress. They also accused the ruling Biju Janata Dal(BJD) of bending excise laws to favour liquor makers in the last 23 years. It was also alleged that the money was stashed at distillation centres to be distributed to voters in western Odisha during the upcoming general elections.
Against this backdrop, the CBI additional director may discuss the massive cash seizure, though the agency has not indicated it officially.
Addressing a press conference, BJP spokesperson Manoj Mohapatra alleged that Odisha Transport Minister Tukuni Sahu has links with one of the liquor manufacturers in Bolangir who is now under the Income Tax department scanner for alleged tax evasion.
To prove the allegations, Mohapatra showed a photograph of the BJD Minister with the liquor manufacturer.
“The BJD should clarify the money belongs to whom. How can a liquor trader stock so much cash? What were the Intelligence Department, and Excise and Vigilance Department doing? Was the money stocked to be used in the election? The CBI should probe whether the BJD party fund was used in the liquor trade,” Mohapatra said.
As per reports, the picture in question is said to be from the Ravan Podi Mahotsav at Titilagarh where the liquor manufacturer, Minister Tukuni Sahu, Bolangir SP, Titilagarh Sub-Collector, and other dignitaries shared the dais.
Denying the allegations, BJD MLA, Satyanarayan Pradhan said, “The allegations are baseless. No leader from our party is involved in this. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik would never allow such kind of behavior. As far as the Opposition allegations are concerned, it is their duty to oppose us. So let them do their duty.”
“I do not know anything about the photos that the BJP is showing. Some leaders might have met some businessmen during a social gathering. That does not prove anything,” Pradhan added.
It is pertinent to mention here that the liquor manufacturer in question is a stakeholder of Baldeo Sahu & Group of Companies, one of the biggest country liquor manufacturers and selling companies in western Odisha. The Income Tax has raided the offices and residences of all the persons linked to this group.
The I-T sleuths also raided Boudh Distillery Private Limited (BDPL) which is a subsidiary of Baldeo Sahu Infra Private Limited.
Communications have been forwarded from the WBBSE office to all the district inspectors of schools asking details on this count from the respective districts at the earliest.
The district inspectors of schools have also been advised to send their own assessments about the Group C staff concerned, sources from the state education department said.
"The district inspectors of schools too have started the process of accumulating information on this count by sending communiques to the headmasters of the schools in the respective districts. After getting the information from the headmasters the district inspectors of schools will tally the information with that available in the portal and send a detailed report to the office of WBBSE along with their assessments," a state education department official said.
Meanwhile, sources said that the central agency sleuths have specially stressed on the detailed information about the joining letters of each and every Group C staff currently attached to the state-run schools.
Observers feel that the recent spurt in activities on part of the CBI sleuths is probably prompted by a recent observation of the Supreme Court directing the central agency to complete its investigation in the school job case within the six months.
On the other hand, Calcutta High Court, too, had fixed the deadline for Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is conducting a parallel probe in the money-laundering angle in the school job case, to wind up the investigation process in the matter by December 31.
(Disclaimer: Except for the headline, this story, from a syndicated feed, has not been edited by Odishatv.in staff)
The legislator was not at his residence at Murshidabad district during the day as he was in Kolkata to attend the ongoing Winter Session of the Assembly. However, his family members, sources said, informed the CBI sleuths that the cash was proceeds from a recent sale of a family property.
However, sources added, those explanations were not conceivable to the central agency sleuths since the cash were recovered from weird places like the washroom and a secret chamber.
The family members were also unable to provide a proper explanation regarding the huge amount of gold ornaments recovered from the residence.
Till the time of the filing of the report, the legislator was yet to reach his residence at Murshidabad though he had left Kolkata in the afternoon.
Commenting on the recovery of cash, Trinamool Congress state spokesman Kunal Ghosh said that only the legislator concerned can explain the source of the cash.
“Our National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee has made it clear that our stand is zero tolerance on the issue of corruption,” Ghosh said.
(Disclaimer: Except for the headline, this story, from a syndicated feed, has not been edited by Odishatv.in staff)
According to CBI sources, the agency busted the inter-state fake job racket which was offering fake appointment letters and fake training to young people.
The sources said that a case was registered against six persons of which the three kingpins have been arrested. They have been identified as Ajay Kumar, a resident of Karnataka, Aman Kumar aka Rupesh, a resident Jharkhand, and Vishal aka Abhishek Singh from Bihar.
The sources said that the agency sleuths also carried out searches at nine locations in Patna, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Manglore and Dhanbad in connection with the case.
At two locations in Patna and Sakinaka in Mumbai, the accused were running fake training centres and were about to open another in Bengaluru, the sources said.
The accused were charging Rs 10-20 lakh per person for 'training', a racket they were running for the past two years, including at places like Nagpur, Dhanbad, Patna and Buxar.
(Except for the headline, this story, from a syndicated feed, has not been edited by Odishatv.in staff)
The accused was identified as Santosh Kumar Panigrahy.
According to the CBI, a case has been registered based on a complaint against Panigrahy in Bhubaneswar.
The allegations revolve around the accused demanding a bribe of Rs. 6,500 from a complainant in exchange for not raising any audit objections regarding the medical bills of the complainant's office.
Furthermore, it was alleged that the accused demanded this bribe of Rs. 6,500, which amounted to 10 per cent of the total medical bill of Rs. 65,000, as he had refrained from objecting to the medical bills during the audit.
“The CBI set up a sting operation and apprehended the accused while he was in the process of demanding and accepting the bribe of Rs. 6,500 from the complainant,” said a senior CBI official.
“Subsequent searches were conducted at the accused's premises in Bhubaneswar and Visakhapatnam, leading to the recovery of documents related to immovable properties in Bhubaneswar, Visakhapatnam, and Berhampur,” said the official.
However, SSR fans suspect foul-play in his death and have been demanding justice for him and his family.
On Thursday, a section of his fans started trending ‘CBI Interrogate PBS In SSR case’ on X, formerly known as Twitter. The angry fans took to social media to demand the interrogation of former Mumbai top cop Param Bir Singh by CBI.
I don't understand why CBI hasn't interrogated PBS until now on Sushant Case,when he is found tainted himself in so many cases. How any1 can rely on him? He botched up SSR Case deliberately. To save whom?
— RajshreeSingh🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳 (@Rajshre73441992) October 26, 2023
Interrogate PBS now CBI.
CBI Interrogate PBS InSSRCase pic.twitter.com/vvnhvfh8h1
Sushant Singh Rajput’s family, fans and his lawyer had earlier accused the Mumbai police of ignoring vital clues that pointed at foul play and also of botching up the crime scene and the viscera report. So, they have now demanded for the CBI interrogation of Param Bir Singh.
“I don't understand why CBI hasn't interrogated PBS until now on Sushant Case when he is found tainted himself in so many cases. How any1 can rely on him? He botched up SSR Case deliberately. To save whom? Interrogate PBS now CBI,” wrote a Twitterati on X.
if dere z no “SAMJHOTA ” business dne amng central govt and Maha govt,BW mafia, den itz best & high time to react.✊✊✊Itz high time Modiji @PMOIndia stops dis lawlessness & tks action against d culprits of Sushant Singh Rajput @BJP4India
— Sohini Biswas👉 NOT A BOT🦋🦋BACK UP (@SohiniB44218827) October 26, 2023
CBI Interrogate PBS InSSRCase pic.twitter.com/amOpAJlh1c
Another fan shared, “Sushant Googled Properties In Coorg, Kerala & Himachal Not A ‘ Painless death'as claimed by Meme Police... Why PBS Lied About SSR's Last Google Search?”
“An Investigation Of Unnatural Death Starts With A Crime Scene. But In SSRCase Contamination Of Crime Scene Was Done By MVA Police, No Sanctity & PBS Trying To Coverup. Its clear that their Intention was to Destroy Murder Evidences,” wrote another fan.
❓Who were the red/pink cap guys who ran away with the black body bag
— 🦋✨ T€J ✨🦋 (@blacksheep_119) October 26, 2023
❓Did they take away evidences of murder from the crime scene @PMOIndia @HMOIndia @CBIHeadquarters @Copsview@arjunrammeghwal @MLJ_GoI
CBI Interrogate PBS InSSRCase pic.twitter.com/EcbxRxQ3pA
Meanwhile, Parambir Singh has always maintained that there is no evidence that the ‘Raabta’ star was murdered ruling out theories of poisoning and strangling as suspected by his fans and family. The AIIMS Medical board also concluded that it was suicide and not murder in its report to the CBI.
In a post on X, Moitra said: "I welcome answering questions to (the) CBI and Ethics Committee (which has absolute majority of BJP members) if and when they call me.”
Hitting back at the media trial, she said: “I have neither time nor interest to feed a Adani-directed media circus trial or answer BJP trolls. I am enjoying Durga Puja in Nadia. Shubho Sashthi.”
In another post in the day, Moitra, who is a Lok Sabha MP from West Bengal’s Krishnanagar seat also slammed the Chairman Ethics Committee over the affidavit of Dubai-based businessman Darshan Hiranandani and said, "Chairman Ethics Committee openly speaks to media. Please see Lok Sabha rules below. How does ‘affidavit’ find its way to media? Chairman should first do enquiry into how this was leaked."
"I repeat - BJP one point agenda is to expel me from Lok Sabha to shut me up on Adani,” she added.
Moitra on Thursday night had hit back at the affidavit of businessman Hiranandani, alleging that the Prime Minister's Office "held a proverbial gun" to his head and made him sign the white paper that was later "leaked to the press". She also dubbed the contents of the letter by Hiranandani as “joke”.
The Trinamool Congress MP shared a two-page statement on her X profile, formerly Twitter posing five questions. She said that three days ago (october 16), the Hiranandani Group put out an official press release stating that all charges leveled against them were "baseless". "Today (October 19) an 'approver affidavit' has been leaked to the press. This 'affidavit' is on a white piece of paper with no letterhead and there is no official origin aside from a press leak," she said.
"Hiranandani has not been summoned by the CBI or the Ethics committee or indeed by any investigative agency yet. Who then has he given this affidavit to?The affidavit is on white paper and not on official letterhead or notarised. Why would one of India's most respected or educated businessman sign a letter like this on white paper unless a gun was put to his head to do it?"
Her remarks came after Dubai-based businessman Hiranandani has said that Trinamool Congress MP provided him her Parliament login and password to post the questions directly on her behalf when required.
The CBI officials had caught Panigrahi red-handed while he was accepting Rs 54,000 bribe from crew members of the Eminence Shipping Agency. Later, the officials had carried out raids on multiple locations linked to the doctor.
During raids, the officials unearthed huge moveable and immovable property at Praradip, Balasore, Cuttack, and Hyderabad and seized cash worth Rs 17 lakh, US Dollars worth over Rs 17 lakh, imported liquor and cigarettes, hard disks, and costly gifts from his official residence. Subsequently, he was arrested.
The CBI had taken Dr Panigrahi on remand for a period of five days for interrogation. With the remand period ending on Monday, he was produced before the CBI court. It is believed that the CBI may seek further remand of Panigrahi for an investigation into his Dollar links.
On the other hand, Shipping agents and employees on Sunday celebrated the arrest of the tainted doctor by organizing a feast. It suggested that they had been at the end of their tether while dealing with the tainted doctor.
They also stated that the doctor would not work without any bribe in the form of costly gifts and cash in return for providing COVID clearance to crew members and shipping agents. All alleged that Dr Panigrahi was more interested in acquiring wealth than discharging his duties.
Soubhagya Majhi, a shipping agent, lamented, “In August, we had produced all necessary documents for Covid clearance. But Dr Panigrahi deliberately delayed the process and made us run to the PHO several times. He also demanded documents that were completely redundant. Finally, he gave me hints that all companies are offering gifts for their work while my company was not doing so.”
Later the doctor instructed Majhi to arrange the so-called gift.
Another shipping agent, Manoranjan Sahu, said, "The doctor usually asks for unnecessary documents on the pretext of verification and scrutiny. He would make the crew members and captains run to the office. People become upset over inordinate delay of their work and finally, they have to satisfy the doctor with gifts to get their work done.”
Similarly, Samarjit Biswal, a former employee of a shipping company, alleged that the doctor had acquired massive wealth through illegal gratification. “The cash and property detected by the CBI is nothing but the tip of an iceberg. If properly investigated, more property will be recovered,” Biswal suggested.
The CBI had allegations against Panigrahi of accepting bribes from crew members of shipping companies. On Thursday, CBI officials caught him red-handed while he was accepting Rs 54,000 from crew members of the Eminence Shipping Agency. Later, the CBI carried out raids on multiple locations linked to the doctor.
The officials have unearthed huge moveable and immovable property at Praradip, Balasore, Cuttack, and Hyderabad. Wads of cash worth Rs 17 lakh, US Dollars worth over Rs 17 lakh, imported liquor and cigarettes, hard disks, and costly gifts have been seized from his official residence. Interestingly, the CBI has also found huge cash stashed inside the toilet of his rented house in Paradip.
CBI official Bikash Kumar said, "The central investigating agency suspects that more people could be assisting the doctor in his activities on which the investigation is on." The doctor could be taken into custody for interrogation, sources said.
The CBI has detained an official posted in Gangtok and also a middleman, they said.
The FIR names 24 individuals including 16 officials who were allegedly issuing passports on the basis of forged documents to ineligible persons, including non-residents, in return for bribes, they said.
The searches are spread across Kolkata, Siliguri, Gangtok, and other locations, they said.
According to a source, the PHO is functioning under the Central government. And Dr Panigrahi is working as the officer of the PHO. The PHO’s main function among others is to provide COVID clearance certificates to those coming from other countries.
As per the allegations, Dr Panigrahi was demanding a bribe of Rs 1500 to 2000 from each crew member to give them the said certificate.
Yesterday, he demanded over Rs 1 lakh from 70 crew members of the Eminence Shipping Agencies. It was when the crew members were giving him Rs 50,000 that the CBI officials caught him red-handed.
Following this, the officials carried out raids at his ancestral house in Balasore, his residence in Cuttack, his office in Paradip, his quarters at J B Colony and his rented house in the Housing Colony. The raids started at 4 pm yesterday and are still continuing, it was learnt.
The officials have so far detected his moveable and immovable assets amounting to over Rs 1 crore. They have also seized huge amount of dollars, imported liquors and cigarettes, hard discs and other important documents. While a ten-member has been interrogating Dr Panigrahi, other officials are carrying out raids.
It has been alleged that Dr Panigrahi had been collecting money from the crew members since the outbreak of COVID-19. Yesterday while being shifted from one location to another, some crew members going to vent their ire, misbehaved with Dr Panigrahi.
However, the total value of his moveable and immovable assets is yet to be ascertained as the raids are still underway.
As per the latest information, Dr Panigrahi was taken to Bhubaneswar and after marathon interrogations and raids, the central investigation agency arrested him.
“The cremation of unidentified bodies will be done by the BMC. The Khordha district Collector had received a letter from the CBI regarding the cremation of the bodies. Then, after receiving a letter from the Khordha district Collector, we had requested the AIIMS Bhubaneswar administration to hand the bodies over to us,” said Kulange.
“Meanwhile, the AIIMS administration has already started the process. Today, they wrote a letter to the CBI seeking the presence of its officers at the time of cremation. There is a possibility that the CBI officers will arrive in a day or two. After their arrival, the AIIMS administration will inform us. Accordingly, the BMC and the police will do the cremation of the bodies,” he added.
“Cremation will be carried out as per the guidelines laid out by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) with respect to the cremation of unidentified bodies. The traditional method of cremation with firewood will be followed. We will take the decision regarding the crematorium, most probably within two days. However, we have options like Satyanagar crematorium, Bharatpur crematorium, and two others,” he said.
The tragic train mishap took place on June 2 and it took 290 lives. The incident occurred when the Chennai-bound Coromandel Express rammed into a stationary goods train at Bahanaga Bazaar station in Odisha’s Balasore district. Some of the derailed coaches subsequently collided with the Yeshvantpur Express returning to Howrah from the opposite direction.
As per AIIMS authorities, there were a total of 81 bodies and 110 claimants. 53 bodies were subsequently handed over after matching of the DNA samples. There were no claimants for 28 bodies.
A senior CBI officer said that the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in Visakhapatnam received reliable information that S. Sreenivasa Raja, during his tenure as the principal of the Kendriya Vidyalaya in Waltair, indulged in corrupt activities and received undue advantages from various individuals in exchange for admission to ineligible students.
"The information further revealed that Raja conspired with the parents of ineligible students and gave admission to 69 students in different classes for the academic year 2021-22 in exchange for financial gains," read the FIR.
A surprise check was conducted at the school by the CBI, along with officials from the Kendriya Vidyalaya, on May 3 and 4 to verify the admissions facilitated by Raja for the academic year 2021-22.
"The verification revealed that Raja had violated the procedures outlined in Kendriya Vidyalaya guidelines. He did not process the applications through the authorised committee for scrutiny and approval.
"Instead, Raja personally approved the applications and admitted 69 ineligible students based on false/forged service certificates purportedly issued by various Central government departments and PSUs, such as Railways, Union Bank of India, CISF etc., in the names of the parents of the ineligible students," the FIR stated.
The CBI alleged that Raja conspired with the parents of the 69 ineligible students and provided admission without proper verification of applications and service certificates, thereby gaining undue financial benefits.
"Raja's action deprived genuine and eligible students of the opportunity to secure admission. As the information prima facie discloses the commission of cognisable offence punishable under Section 7 (a) & 7(b) of the Prevention of Corruption Act and Sections 120-B, 465, 468, 471 of the Indian Penal Code, a regular case has been registered against him," the CBI officer said.
A senior CBI official stated that a case was registered against Hetal Kumar Pravinchandra Rajyaguru, the proprietor of a Gujarat-based firm as well as Shashank Kumar Jain, a resident of Kolkata; Somesh Chandra from Noida; Veer Thakkar from Mumbai; Rajiv Ranjan, Tarang Agarwal, and Ashish Razdan, the executive secretary to the CMD of Bridge & Roof Company (India) Ltd, along with unknown public servants from Bridge & Roof Company (India) Ltd and other private individuals.
The allegations suggested a conspiracy among these accused to secure the EMRS tender for the private company in exchange for illegal gratification to unknown public servants at Bridge & Roof Company (India) Ltd in Kolkata.
The CBI investigation revealed that Shashank Kumar Jain, a resident of Kolkata, was demanding a bribe on behalf of unknown officers at Bridge & Roof Company (India) Ltd. He was seeking a bribe from Hetal Kumar Pravinchandra Rajyaguru and another private individual in exchange for favouring their company in the tender process.
Rajyaguru had assured to send Rs 20 lakh to Jain for the public servant at Bridge & Roof Company (India) Ltd.
"A trap was set, and after the delivery of the bribe amount to the said private person in Kolkata through an alleged Hawala channel, both the private individuals were apprehended. An alleged bribe amount of Rs 19.96 lakh was recovered from their possession," the official stated.
Further investigation revealed that this bribe was allegedly intended for the executive secretary to the CMD of Bridge and Roof Company (India) Ltd (a public servant). The said executive secretary and other private individuals were also arrested.
Searches were conducted at various locations, including Kolkata, Delhi, Noida, Mumbai, Nagpur, and Rajkot, at the premises of the accused, leading to the recovery of several incriminating documents, digital evidence, and cash amounting to Rs 26.60 lakh.
"Hetal Kumar Pravinchandra Rajyaguru was presented before a special CBI court in Ahmedabad and has been remanded to CBI's custody until September 21. The remaining arrested accused will be produced before the Competent Court," the official added.
He is alleged to have demanded a bribe from a contractor in exchange for releasing his vehicle (a pick-up van) and clearing the bill.
A senior CBI official said that a written complaint in this regard was received from Milind Janardhan Londhe regarding the demand for undue advantage by Rajiv, a Senior Section Engineer (Mechanical) at the South Central Railway, Purna.
"The complaint and its verification disclosed that the complainant, Londhe, who owns SA Electric & Electronics, has been a Railway Contractor since 2013 and was awarded the contract for supplying three four-wheeler vehicles for railway staff pick-up through GeM since July 2021. He provided three vehicles, two owned by himself and one by a known person, to the Railways Depots at Purna, Aurangabad and Nanded for Rs 47,999 per month per vehicle," said the FIR.
This contract was for two years with a total cost of Rs 34,55,928, and it expired in July 2023.
After the contract expired, the vehicle with registration number MH-22 AA 2933, deployed at Purna depot, was released by Rajiv.
The complainant approached him on several occasions to release the vehicle and complete the final bill.
On August 18, 2023, Rajiv, SSE, completed the final bill but did not hand over the documents to the victim and asked for a personal meeting.
"On September 4, Rajiv demanded undue advantage for releasing the vehicle and other documents and forced the complainant to pay a sum of money. He did not release the vehicle and stated that he would hand it over only after the remaining amount is paid," the FIR added.
The official mentioned that they have filed the FIR under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act against the accused and are looking into the matter.
The court passed the order while hearing a petition filed by one Anshuman Kanungo.
The aspirant had moved the court alleging that erroneous mark sheet was issued to him in 2022.
Acting on the petition, the state’s apex court has directed the central probing agency to submit a report after completing the investigation within four months.
(This is a developing story. Refresh the page for updates.)
Currently, the federal probe agency is handling nine cases, including the two cases of sexual assault that sparked nationwide outrage.
Officials closely involved with the matter have indicated that the additional cases may be filed based on further investigation.
In the Churachandpur district of Manipur, more cases related to assaults on women have been reported. These cases might be transferred to the CBI. The agency officials mentioned that cases related to the SC/ST Act will be overseen by an SP-level officer.
All forensic samples collected by the investigating officers will be sent to the central forensic laboratories to expedite the probe process.
According to reports, the violence that started in Manipur on May 3 has claimed over 160 lives so far.
Officials are also mindful that while conducting the investigation, no one should accuse them of bias, as the matter pertains to clashes between two communities.
On July 26, after the hearing on a PIL alleging that two purported Pakistan nationals, namely Jaikant Kumar and Pradyumna Kumar are currently posted at the defence cantonment at Barrackpore in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, Justice Sengupta directed CBI to submit its progress report in the matter to court.
Accordingly on Wednesday, the CBI sleuths submitted its progress report at the bench of Justice Sengupta where it did not rule out the possibility despite admitting that their sleuths are yet to get any definite proof in this connection.
The central agency counsel also informed the court that the assistance of international probe agencies like INTERPOL night be required for further investigation in the matter. Justice Sengupta directed the CBI to immediately file an FIR in the matter and progress with its investigation process.
On June 13, a petition was filed at the bench of Justice Rajasekhar Mantha by one Bishnu Chowdhury. The original directive to the CBI to start investigation in the matter was given by Justice Mantha. Later he was elevated to the division bench of Calcutta High Court and the matter was referred to the bench of Justice Sengupta.
In his petition, Chowdhury had alleged that the duo got selected through the Staff Selection Commission examination and they secured the jobs through forgery of documents.
He had also alleged that a major racket involving influential political leaders, bureaucrats and police officials was involved behind such appointments through forged documents.
On Wednesday, Justice Sengupta also directed the police to ensure security arrangements for the petitioner considering that he had been facing life threats since the time he filed the PIL.
A senior CBI official told IANS that the case was registered late Friday night.
The Manipur government and the Union Ministry of Home Affairs had transferred the case to the CBI for further investigation.
In connection to the incident, the Manipur Police have arrested seven suspects.
Although the incident took place on May 4, a day after the widespread ethnic violence broke out in Manipur, the video went viral this month.
On Thursday, the Centre had informed the Supreme Court that the investigation into the incident had been transferred to the CBI.
They also requested the transfer of the entire case, including the trial, to any state outside Manipur.
As of now, the CBI has lodged six separate FIRs in connection with the ongoing violence in Manipur.
The viral video FIR is the seventh.
The video had sparked nationwide condemnation, with the opposition demanding Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement on the matter in Parliament.
The trial would be sought to be held in a court in neighbouring Assam, they said.
The officials also said the Union Home Ministry is in touch with both Meitei and Kuki groups and talks are in an advanced stage to restore normalcy in Manipur.
The nearly three-month-long ethnic violence in Manipur has claimed over 160 lives. A video of the May 4 incident involving the two women went viral over social media earlier this month, sparking nationwide outrage.
The opposition seized the opportunity to corner the Modi government over the issue which has rocked the Monsoon session of Parliament since it began on July 20.
The SP and DIG rank officers interrogated the arrested trio including senior section engineer (signal) Arun Kumar Mahanta, section engineer Mohammed Amir Khan and technician Pappu Kumar- at Chandaka Police Station in Bhubaneswar. According to sources, the CBI is on the job to extract the truth behind the mishap and whether it was a manual error or a conspiracy.
Meanwhile, the CBI has summoned another railway staff. However, the identity of the staff is yet to be ascertained.
According to experts, the role of the Divisional Signalling Telecommunication Engineer, Senior Divisional Signalling Telecommunication Engineer and Chief Signalling Telecommunication Engineer can’t be ruled out.
“On June 2, the old electric lifting barrier was removed from Balasore station and installed at Bahanaga station. The three arrested persons had executed the installation work. As the inquiry report of the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) held them responsible for the tragedy, the CBI arrested them,” said Debabrata Kamila, former railway official.
Railways expert MNS Ray said, “What I have understood is that the accident occurred due to interlocking failure and installing and implementing the modified circuit design without testing. Primarily they (the arrested persons) are field staff. And the chances of them committing mistakes are high. So, senior engineers should also have been involved.”
According to sources, a five-member team of the central probe agency reached Chandaka Police station this morning to interrogate the three accused- Senior Section Engineer (signal) Arun Kumar Mahanta, Section Engineer Mohammed Amir Khan, and Technician Pappu Kumar.
All three officials, who were posted in Balasore, were arrested on Friday.
Notably, the three Railway staff have been arrested under IPC sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 201 (destruction of evidence).
The trio has been kept at the Chandaka Police Station instead of the CBI office owing to security arrangements, sources informed, adding that the probe agency has also summoned another railway employee in connection with the case.
After apprehending the trio, the CBI produced the accused before the court and sought seven-day remand for questioning.
However, the Special Court in Bhubaneswar granted five days of remand to CBI.
Earlier this week, the inquiry report of the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS), South Eastern Circle stated that the deadly train mishap at Bahanaga station in Odisha’s Balasore had occurred due to lapses in the signaling circuit alteration carried out at the North Signal Goomty (of the station) in the past.
Notably, the triple train accident involving Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express, and a goods train laden with iron ore on June 2 at Bahanaga Bazar station in Balasore claimed over 290 lives.
The main conspirator has been identified as Dwarka Nath Patro, a prominent gold merchant in Bhubaneswar. The CBI has booked also Patro’s wife, his son, daughter, daughter-in-law, his partners, and a few public servants for cheating the bank with fake property documents to obtain loan.
According to sources, a written complaint was lodged by Indian Bank, Zonal Manager of Saheed Nagar Bhubaneswar, addressed to Joint Director, CBI, New Delhi. Later, the case was transferred to the jurisdictional CBI branch, Bhubaneswar for taking necessary action.
The complaint requested for CBI investigation into the alleged fraud perpetrated by Dwarka Jewelers and its partners for obtaining money worth over Rs 7 crore sanctioned by then Allahabad Bank (now merged with Indian Bank) for the purpose of trading in gold, silver, precious stone, and diamond ornaments and jewelry.
The complaint alleged that Shri Dwarka Nath Patro, along with its partners namely Pushpanjali Patro, Uma Shankar Patro, Subhashree Patro, the guarantor Bilkish Patro, unknown private persons, and unknown public servants committed fraud, criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery and thereby caused wrongful loss of Rs 7,14,50,799 to the Indian Bank.
After obtaining the loan, the firm engaged in fraudulent activities and diverted the funds for a purpose other than which the loan was sanctioned. It is alleged that the firm has siphoned off the stocks purchased through bank finance.
Moreover, during verification, it was found that some of the properties kept as security/mortgage are not in the name of the partners and the guarantor.
Based on the complaint, CBI has registered a case punishable U/s 120-B, r/w 420, 467, 498, and 471 of IPC, U/s 13(2), r/w 13(1)(d) of PC Act, 1988 and U/s 13(2), r/w 13(1)(a) of PC Act, 1988 (as amended in 2018).
Following the complaint, the CBI has been conducting raids since Saturday, reports said.
On the other hand, Dwarka's son Uma Shankar said that he and his family wasn’t able to pay the loans due to some reason and pinned hopes on the court’s order.
“We had taken loan of Rs 6 crore, but weren’t able to repay on time as I was arrested in another case. We are trying to repay the loan amount. However, the bank is not allowing us. Now, everything depends on the court’s order,” said Dwarka’s son Uma Shankar.
He, however, has refused the involvement of any bank officials in the alleged fraud.
A senior CBI official said they received a written complaint in February from the bank, alleging that Dwarka Jewelers; its partners Dwarka Nath Patro, Pushpanjali Patro, Uma Shankar Patro, Subhashree Patro; guarantor Bilkish Patro; and others committed fraud, criminal conspiracy, cheating, and forgery in connection with a Cash Credit Facility of Rs 6 crore sanctioned in 2013 by the erstwhile Allahabad Bank (now Indian Bank).
The firm had taken the loan for the purpose of trading in gold, silver, precious stones, and diamond ornaments/jewellery but allegedly later engaged in fraudulent activities.
"Dwarka Jewelers was a partnership firm established in 2001, and it became a non-performing asset (NPA) in 2020. The firm transferred Rs 3.55 crore through various transactions to Uma Shankar Patro and GDS Builders, which constituted diversion of funds. It was alleged that the partners misused the funds for purposes other than those for which the loan was sanctioned," stated the CBI.
"The official mentioned that it was discovered that some of the properties kept as mortgage against the loan were not registered in the names of the partners. Fake documents were allegedly submitted to deceive the bank."
Based on this complaint, the CBI has now filed an FIR and is investigating the matter.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying the probe agency cannot fix accountability for technical, institutional and political failures, a day after the railways sought a CBI probe into the tragedy in Odisha that claimed 275 lives.
Kharge also said "all the empty safety claims" of Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw have now been "exposed" and the government must bring to light the real reasons that caused this grave accident, which he described as one of the worst in Indian history.
In his four-page letter to Modi, the Congress chief said there is serious concern among the common passengers about the deterioration in safety of railways and therefore, it is incumbent upon the government to ascertain and bring to light the real reasons that caused this grave accident.
He alleged that instead of focusing on strengthening the railways at the basic level, only "superficial touch-up is being done to stay in news".
Alleging that the railways was being meted out a "step-motherly treatment" by the government, Kharge said consistently flawed decision making has made travelling by rail unsafe and has in turn compounded the problems of people.
"Unfortunately, the people in charge your goodself and Railway Minister Ashwani Vaishnaw do not want to admit that there are problems," he said.
The railway minister claims to have already found a root cause, but yet has requested the CBI to investigate, he said, asserting that the agency is meant to investigate crimes, not railway accidents.
"The CBI, or any other law enforcement agency, cannot fix accountability for technical, institutional and political failures. In addition, they lack the technical expertise in railway safety, signalling, and maintenance practices," the Congress chief said.
Congress spokesperson and former Minister of State for Railways Bhakta Charan Das said at a press conference that the accident was a result of the "misgovernance" of the central government as railway safety clearly stands ignored.
He also took on Prime Minister Modi and asked whether he has ever spent sometime on security and safety of railway passengers.
"Neither the prime minister nor the railway minister is bothered about the safety of railways. The railway department and the Government of India are responsible for this accident and not just the station master. We hope the people of the country are seeing this and the government should answer the questions in the minds of people," Das said.
"This Odisha accident is clearly a result of the misgovernance of the Government of India," he said.
"Does the prime minister care about the lives of people travelling in the railways. Has the prime minister ever monitored railway safety," he asked.
The prime minister is saying that the guilty will be punished, Das said, but claimed that "everyone knows who the guilty is".
"The CBI inquiry means the focus is needed to be diverted," he alleged.
Das reiterated the demand that either the railway minister resign or he be sacked.
He also said that the railways has been ignored ever since the railway budget was merged with the general budget and safety issues were never discussed.
Das said Vande Bharat trains are being launched by PM Modi only for getting votes ahead of the 2024 polls and officials are not concerned about safety any longer.
The Congress leader also asked when will work on the "railway kavach" be completed, claiming that only about 2000 km of tracks is covered against total 70,000 km and the budget allocation for it is also negligible.
In his letter to the prime minister, Kharge said the nation still remembers the 2016 derailment in Kanpur, in which 150 people lost their lives and the then railway minister asked the NIA to investigate it.
"Subsequently, you yourself claimed in an election rally in 2017 that there was a 'conspiracy'. The nation was assured that strictest punishment would be meted out. However, in 2018, the NIA closed the investigation and refused to file a charge sheet. The nation is still in the dark -- who is responsible for 150 avoidable deaths?" Kharge, a former minister of railways, said.
He alleged that the government has no intent to address the systemic safety malaise, but is instead finding diversionary tactics to derail any attempt to fix accountability.
Attacking the government, Kharge said the train accident in Odisha has been an "eye-opener" and all the empty safety claims of the railway minister have now been "exposed".
"Today, the most crucial step is to prioritise installation of mandatory safety standards and equipment across railway routes to ensure safety of our passengers and no recurrence of an accident like the one at Balasore," he said.
The crash involving Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express and Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express, which were carrying around 2,500 passengers, and a goods train on Friday has left 275 people dead and over 1,100 injured.
Kharge said the latest audit report of CAG makes a special mention of how between 2017-18 and 2020-21, about seven out of 10 train accidents happened due to derailment.
"But this was erroneously ignored. Between 2017 and 2021, there was zero testing of Rail and Weld (track maintenance) for safety in East Coast Railway. Why were these grave red flags ignored?" he said.
Kharge pointed out that the CAG report highlights that funding for the Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh (RRSK) has been reduced by a massive 79 per cent.
It was claimed during the budget presentation that about Rs 20,000 crore would be available annually, but this was not done, he said and asked why were the required funds not allocated for track renewal work.
Is this not being callous about the safety of passengers, he asked.
Noting that the Railway Board itself has recently admitted that loco pilots have had to work longer hours than mandated due to manpower shortage, Kharge said loco pilots are crucial to safety and overburdening them is proving to be the main cause of accidents. He asked why have their positions not been filled yet.
He flagged the issue of three lakh posts lying vacant in Indian Railways.
In accordance with the procedure, the central agency will take over the Balasore GRP case number 64 registered by Odisha Police on June 3, a day after the accident in Odisha involving two passengers trains and a goods train.
The case was registered under IPC sections 337, 338, 304A (causing death by negligence) and 34 (common intention) and sections 153 (unlawful and negligent action endangering lives of Railway passengers ), 154 and 175 (endangering lives) of the Railways Act.
It is likely to be allotted to Special Crime Unit at the Delhi Headquarters.
According to the procedure, the CBI re-registers the local police FIR as its own case and starts the probe. It can add or remove a charge from the FIR in its charge sheet filed after the completion of its probe.
"We have recommended a CBI probe into the triple train accident that claimed 275 lives and left over 1,000 injured," Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told reporters in Bhubaneswar on Sunday evening.
Railway officials have indicated that possible "sabotage" and tampering with the electronic interlocking system, which detects the presence of trains, led to the Friday accident.
The crash involving Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express and Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express, which were carrying over 2,500 passengers, and a goods train laden with iron ore occurred around 7 PM on Friday near the Bahanaga Bazar station in Balasore, about 250 km south of Kolkata and 170 km north of Bhubaneswar.
As many as 21 coaches were derailed and severely damaged in the accident, trapping hundreds of passengers.
Last Friday, the HC had directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) not to take any coercive against the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer till May 22.
A vacation bench of justices Abhay Ahuja and M M Sathaye on Monday extended Wankhede's interim protection from any coercive action, such as arrest, while hearing his plea seeking quashing of the CBI's FIR against him.
The bench also directed Wankhede to give an undertaking that he will not talk to the media about the case, appear before the CBI as and when called, and not tamper with evidence.
The CBI recently filed an FIR against Wankhede for allegedly seeking Rs 25 crore bribe for not framing the Bollywood star's son Aryan Khan in the drugs-on-cruise case.
The probe agency has booked Wankhede and four others for alleged criminal conspiracy and extortion threat, besides provisions pertaining to bribery under the Prevention of Corruption Act, on a complaint by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).
The agency has alleged that the NCB, Mumbai Zone, received information in October 2021 related to the consumption and possession of narcotics substances by various individuals on the private cruise ship and some of its officers conspired and obtained undue advantage in the form of bribes from the alleged accused.
Aryan Khan was arrested by the NCB on October 3, 2021 after a raid on the Cordelia cruise ship. He was granted bail by the Bombay High Court after three weeks as the NCB failed to substantiate its charges against him.
As per the directive of the Bombay High Court on Friday, Wankhede went to the CBI regional headquarters in Bandra Kurla Complex to record his statement at around 11 a.m. on Saturday.
He was granted a lunch break and then questioned for another couple of hours before being allowed to leave at around 4.30 p.m., official sources said.
On Friday, the Bombay High Court had granted him relief from any coercive action till May 22. An IRS officer of 2008 batch, Wankhede's role during the Cordelia Cruise ship raid on October 2, 2021 has come under the radar of the CBI.
It may be recalled that minister in the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi government and Nationalist Congress Party leader Nawab Malik, and a witness in the cruise raids Prabhakar Sail (who died last year), had levelled several allegations of corruption against Wankhede and the raid team.
However, Wankhede has stoutly denied all the allegations against him and expressed his full faith in the judiciary, the Central government and the CBI to give him justice.
Thereafter, Wankhede was relieved from the cruise raid case and later an internal probe was conducted vis-a-vis the allegations he faced, even as the NCB gave a 'clean chit' to Aryan Khan for lack of evidence against him in May 2022.
Besides Wankhede, the CBI has booked two other NCB officers, Vishwa Vijay Singh and Ashish Ranjan, and witnesses in the ship case, K.P. Gosavi and Sanvile D'Souza.
Meanwhile, the Bombay high court has posted Wankhede's plea for further hearing on Monday.
Wankhede has been accused of trying to extort Rs 25 crore from Aryan Khan's family, through other members of the NCB and a few individuals. Later on, the amount was reduced to Rs 18 crore, and a token amount of Rs 50 lakh was reportedly paid.
DDG, NCB, Gyaneshwar Singh had submitted a report to the CBI on the basis of which the probe agency has lodged a case.
Singh had handed over the report to the CBI to file a case against Sameer Wankhede, V.V. Singh, then Superintendent NCB and Ashish Ranjan, the then IO of the case.
Wankhede, an IRS officer who is currently in DGTS Chennai, will have to appear before the CBI's Mumbai zone office to get his statement recorded.
His cell phone was earlier seized by the CBI to retrieve data from it.
As per Malik, Bali was not on government payroll but was his personal associate.
The case pertains to a health insurance scheme that Malik was allegedly asked to push. Malik had claimed that he was offered a bribe for clearing the files during his tenure as the J&K Governor between August 23, 2018 and October 30, 2019.
Last year, the CBI had lodged a case in this respect and conducted raids in six states.
On March 23, 2022 a letter was received from Dr Mohammad Usman Khan, JKAS, Deputy Secretary to the Government, General Administration Department regarding a matter of malpractices in awarding a contract regarding the Employees Health Care Insurance Scheme to Reliance General Insurance Corporation Limited.
"The allegations mentioned in the written communication prima facie disclosed that unknown officials of Finance Department of Govt. of J&K by abusing their official position in conspiracy and connivance with Trinity Reinsurance Brokers Ltd., Reliance General Insurance Company Ltd. and other unknown public servants committed the offences of Criminal Conspiracy and Criminal Misconduct to cause pecuniary advantage to themselves and caused wrongful loss to state exchequer during the period 2017 and 2018 and thereby in this manner cheated the Govt of J&K," the CBI source said.
After preliminary inquiry, the CBI lodged a case under sections 120-B read with sections 420 of RPC and Section 5(2), Section 5(1)(d) of the J&K PC Act.
Investigation into the matter is ongoing.
In the draft Cabinet Note, the legal opinions of Ranjan Gogoi and K.G. Balakrishnan, both former Chief Justice of India (CJI), Mukul Rohtagi, senior advocate and former attorney general of India (AGI) and others were obtained.
The CBI has claimed that their legal opinions were mostly in favour of maintaining the status-quo (which means the policy which was being brought should be stalled).
On January 28, 2021, a file containing the cabinet note was taken to the camp office (official residence of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal).
Here, the Delhi Excise Department officials handed over the file to Pravesh Jha, the additional secretary to Kejriwal. K.P. Gupta, who was looking after the work of Secretary of Finance, signed the file, marked it to Sisodia and gave it back to Jha.
After that, Sisodia was given the file by Jha to seek the approval of the chief minister before placing it before the meeting of the Council of Ministers. However, this file was not considered by the ministers in the meeting.
"Sisodia called Rahul Singh, the Delhi Excise Commissioner, and expressed his anger for incorporating the comments of the legal experts in the Cabinet Note. Sisodia did not return the file containing the Cabinet Note to Delhi Excise Department or Excise officials. Later, when the CBI inquired about the Cabinet Note file, the Finance Department informed that the file was missing," a source said, quoting the chargesheet.
The CBI has also alleged that later, their digital evidence corroborated that the file was submitted to Sisodia by the Excise Department. The CBI said that later on February 2, 2021, Sisodia made a fresh note, but there, he did not make any reference to the previous cabinet note.
The CBI has alleged that this was done with the intention of suppressing the submission of the Cabinet Note.
The CBI has alleged that Sisodia then directed the new excise commissioner to prepare a fresh cabinet note without making any reference to the legal opinions of the former chief justice of India. And on February 5, 2021, a fresh cabinet note was put up before the meeting of the council of ministers.
"This clearly indicates that Sisodia wanted to help the accused involved in the case and was working with a pre-conceived idea to formulate the excise policy in a particular manner to suit the design of the co-accused and dishonestly did not put the original cabinet note in the cabinet meeting of January 28, 2021, and also destroyed the file of the cabinet note because it was not suiting their ulterior designs," said the source.
This was the second supplementary chargesheet by the CBI in the matter.
During the raid and search operations which got underway on Tuesday and continued till this morning, the probe agency recovered Rs 38.38 crore, one of the biggest cash recoveries by it.
Of the total recovery so far, Rs 20 crore in cash was seized on Tuesday.
According to a senior CBI officer, a case was registered against Gupta and his family members on charges of possessing disproportionate assets.
Searches were conducted at the accused's residential and commercial premises in 19 locations of Delhi, Chandigarh, Gurugram, Sonepat and Ghaziabad.
After retirement, Gupta had set up a consultancy firm in Delhi. The alleged immovable properties belonging to the accused include flats, commercial properties and a farmhouse spread across Delhi, Gurugram, Panchkula, Sonipat and Chandigarh.
All four of them have been chargesheeted in the second supplementary charge sheet filed in this matter by the CBI on on Tuesday.
The charge sheet has invoked sections Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The is the first that the CBI has named Sisodia, who's is judicial custody for nearly two months now, in its charge sheeted.
The CBI had earlier filed a charge sheet in the same case against seven persons.
Kejriwal, who joined the probe at the CBI headquarters at 11.05 a.m., was asked about AAP leader Vijay Nair, businessman Sameer Mahendru and how the policy got leaked before it was implemented.
A team of senior officials ecorded his statement.
The CBI has filed a charge sheet in the mattet and now they are all set to file a supplementary charge sheet.
Delhi's then Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia was arrested by the CBI and the ED in the case and is presently behind bars.
The Delhi Police had imposed Section 144 in and around the CBI's headquarters to avoid any problems and detained 1,305 AAP workers.
Kejriwal appeared before the CBI officials at 11:05 a.m. His questioning is being held at its headquarters by a team of senior CBI officials.
This is the first time that Kejriwal is being grilled by the agency.
The CBI has filed a chargesheet in the matter and now they are preparing to file a supplementary chargesheet.
Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia was arrested by the CBI and the ED and is presently behind bars.
Kejriwal is likely to be asked about Vijay Nair, businessman Sameer Mahendru and how the policy got leaked before it was implemented.
The Delhi Police has imposed section 144 in an around the area of CBI's headquarters to avoid clashes with AAP supporters.
There will be only one gate for media entry.
Kejriwal's testimony will be recorded by a team of top officials.
CBI sources told IANS that they will question Kejriwal about the call reportedly made between alleged accused Vijay Nair and Sameer Mahendru.
As per the probe agency, Nair had arranged meeting of the owner/controller of Indo Spirits Sameer Mahendru, with Kejriwal and when that didn't materialise, arranged a video call through Facetime on his phone for both and in the video call, Kejriwal allegedly told Mahendru that Nair was "his boy" and that Mahendru "should trust him and carry on with him".
It has also been alleged that Mahendru transferred around Rs 1 crore in the account of Radha Industries which is reportedly owned by Dinesh Arora, a close aide of former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who was earlier arrested by both the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the matter, and is presently in jail.
Mahendru, on behalf of Vijay Nair, the former CEO of entertainment and event management firm Only Much Louder, named as an accused in the CBI's FIR, allegedly paid around Rs 2 to 4 crore to Arjun Pandey, another associate of Sisodia.
The CBI has already filed a charge sheet in the matter and they are about to file a supplementary charge sheet.
The accused, Subasish Pal, was allegedly taking the bribe from a contractor named Debendra Puhan at the office of the postal superintendent when he was caught by the officials of the central agency.
The investigating officer in the case, Akshay Kumar Nanda, had been camping in Sambalpur for the past three days.
Earlier, it was suspected that the CBI team was inquiring into the fake certificate case link. Recently, six persons were identified to have alleged involvement in the fake certificate case in Sambalpur. The Postal Department had also written to the CBI to probe into the fake certificate scam in the State.
Meanwhile, responding to the fake certificate scam in Odisha, School and Mass Education Minister Samir Ranjan Dash said the government was aware of the fake certificate racket.
“Fake certificate is not something new. It picked up momentum after Bolangir postal incident. We had some information about fake certificates. We have been continuing our probe in this regard in an intensive manner. We have already dismissed more than 150 persons in connection with the fake certificate case. Complaints have been lodged and some persons have also been arrested in Mayurbhanj,” said Dash.
“It’s a continuous process. We have asked the BEOs and DEOs to report about the persons who have got jobs by submitting fake certificates in their areas. We have also asked them to take stern action against the culprits. We have written letters to various universities inside and outside the State for proper investigation into the scam. They are also cooperating with us fully and it will take some time,” he added.
As per the Minister, Education Department in the State had initiated a probe in this regard earlier and hence forming a special team is not required.
“Crime Branch has launched a probe into the fake certificate case in Bolangir. They have also identified some persons having links with the scam. They will take further actions as per the requirement of the investigation,” said Dash.
Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Satish Dinkar, who is representing the CBI in the court, told IANS that the framing of charges in two big cases has begun, however, the hearing will speed up after two months. The process of charge framing has also begun in some other cases related to food inspector recruitment exams conducted by the Vyapam.
"These two cases have more than 1,300 accused and these cases were untouched so far, but now, the process of framing of charges has begun... We are hopeful that the process framing charges will be complete in the next two months and we can expect the daily hearings to speed up in these cases," Dinkar said.
Earlier, in December 2022, the Madhya Pradesh STF (Special Task Force) filed a fresh FIR, almost eight years after a complaint was filed by former Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh. Sources said the fresh FIR has triggered "unrest" within the ruling BJP and has also raised several eyebrows over its "sanction". However, the STF has said that it is just a routine action since they are investigating hundreds of complaints related to the Vyapam case that were not taken up by the CBI.
The case was registered on December 6, 2022, against Prashant Meshram, Ajay Tengar, Krishna Kumar Jaiswal, Anil Chouhan, Hari Kishan Jatav, Shiv Shankar Prasad, Amit Badole and Sulwant Singh Morya for allegedly clearing PMT 2008-2009 through impersonators.
It is worth mentioning that in July 2015, the Supreme Court transferred Vyapam investigations from the state STF to the CBI. The central agency registered 155 cases. Today, CBI has no Vyapam case pending for investigation, and hundreds of investigators, who were sent to Bhopal for the massive probe, have returned to their parent units.
Most of the cases are being heard in a special CBI court in Bhopal, and the single court is dealing with as many as 54 cases, including the 'engine-bogie' scam in the PMT exams in 2012 and 2013, which has a roster of more than 1,300 accused persons.
Though the irregularities in the Vyapam exams were noticed first in 2001, a strong nexus of corrupt bureaucrats, politicians of both the ruling and opposition parties, racketeers and middlemen kept executing their plans for over a decade, until the lid was blown off in 2013.
All the accused persons in the Vyapam cases, who were either arrested by Madhya Pradesh police or by the CBI and were charge-sheeted, are now out on bail. Most of them were granted interim bail by the Madhya Pradesh High Court, including nine who were granted conditional bail in March 2022.
As of now, the court has not taken cognisance of the matter.
The case was first registered on 22.1.2019 against Videocon International Electronics Limited Videocon Industries Limited, Venugopal Nandlal Dhoot, Chanda Kochhar, Deepak Virendra Kochhar, NuPower Renewables Limited, Supreme Energy Private Limited and Unknown public servants under sections 120-B read with 420 IPC and Section 7 read with section 13(2) read with 13(1)(d) of the PC Act.
On August 26, 2009, a Sanctioning Committee headed by Chanda Kochhar, MD sanctioned Rupee Term Loan of Rs 300 crore to Videocon International Electronics Limited (VIEL) in contravention of rules and policies of the bank in criminal conspiracies with the co-accused persons dishonestly by abusing her official position as public servant.
The loan was disbursed on September 7, 2009 and on very next date September 8, 2009, Dhoot, (MD Videocon Group) transferred Rs 64 crore to NRL managed by Deepak Kochhar from Videocon Industries Limited through his company Supreme Energy Pvt. Ltd. (SEPL).
NRL was incorporated on December 24, 2008. Dhoot and his relative Saurabh Dhoot resigned from the directorship of NRL on January 15,2009. Before resigning. V N Dhoot allotted 1997500 warrants (convertible into equity) to Deepak Kochhar.
On June 5, 2009 shares of NRL held by V N Dhoot and Deepak Kochhar were transferred to Supreme Energy Private Limited (SEPL).
SEPL was incorporated on July 3, 2008 with its directors as V.N. Dhoot and his associate Vasant Kakade.
Dhoot resigned from the directorship of SEPL on January 15, 2009 by transferring his shares to Pinnacle Energy Trust managed by Deepak Kochhar.
Between June 2009 and October 2011, ICICI Bank sanctioned Rupee Term Loan of Rs 1875 crore to six companies of Videocon Group for the purpose of enabling them to repay the unsecured loan availed by these companies from Videocon Industries Limited. All these loans were sanctioned after Chanda Kochhar took over the charge of ICICI Bank as MD & CEO.
Of the six loans, Chanda Kochhar was one of the committee members in two loans i.e. RTL of Rs 300 crore to VIEL and RTL of Rs 750 crore to VIL.
The ICICI bank had also released the security available in the form of FDR of Rs 50 crore in the accounts of Sky Appliance Ltd and Techno Electronic Ltd without any justification.
On April 26, 2012, the existing outstanding of the six RTL accounts were adjusted in RTL of Rs 1730 crore, sanctioned to VIL under refinance of domestic debt. The account of VIL was declared NPA on June 30, 2017.
Present outstanding in the account is Rs 1033 crore.
"During investigation it has been found that in furtherance of criminal conspiracy with other accused persons, Chanda Kochhar sanctioned various loans to Videocon Group despite having business dealings with VN Dhoot. That investigation revealed that on September 8, 2009, an amount of Rs 64 crore was transferred out of a disbursed amount of Rs 283.45 crore, sanctioned to Videocon International Electronic Limited by a committee headed by Chanda Kochhar, to the company's account of her husband. Thus Chanda Kochhar has committed criminal breach of trust punishable under Section 409 of IPC, by sanctioning RTL of Rs 300 crore and later on converted the funds of Rs 64 crore for her own use," the CBI has alleged.
The CBI said that being a public servant, she was entrusted with the bank funds for which she was liable to discharge such trust in accordance with the guidelines issued by the ICICI Bank.
The CBI has learnt that Chanda Kochhar was residing in a flat without consideration. During the period she dealt with loan proposal of Videocon Group and sanctioned for sanction as a member of the committee flat was under litigation for possession between Videocon Industries Limited and Deepak Kochhar. Subsequently, the flat (valued at Rs 5.25 crore in 1996) was transferred to Quality Advisor, a family trust of Deepak Kochhar at meagre amount of Rs 11 lakh in 2016.