09-30-2005, 11:53 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Leak makes mockery of CBI crackdown </b>
Pioneer News Service/ New Delhi
The CBI's countrywide raid against corrupt government officials on Friday made news for wrong reasons - information about the raid was leaked out in advance and even reported in Friday's edition of a Delhi newspaper.
<b>As CBI sleuths arrived, they found offices of several government officials locked and officers missing. The subsequent seizure of cash and asset, which were much lower than expected from a raid spread across 58 cities and at 198 locations, made it obvious that the surprise element was completely missing in the entire operation.</b>
That the country's premier investigating agencies was left in a highly embarrassing situation was evident from the fact that it seized only Rs 80 lakh in cash during the raids.
CBI Director US Misra later said that they are trying to identify the officials responsible for the leak and punitive action will be initiated against those found guilty.
During the drive the CBI registered cases under various sections of the Prevention of the Corruption Act, demanding and accepting bribes, disproportionate assets and abuse of the official position to cause monetary gain to private persons and firms and wrongful loss to the government.
The operation was massive. Over 2,000 men and officers of CBI began the nationwide exercise in the wee hours of the day and searched premises of several Government officials, including four officers of the joint secretary level and above. In all, the agency registered 58 cases against 70 public servants. These officials belong to the departments of Customs, Income Tax and BSNL.
The searches were continuing and details were being collected, Mr Misra said. The most interesting case was registered in Visakhapatnam, where the CBI booked a <b>senior railway official for allegedly selling off 12 railway wagons</b>.. According to a CBI FIR, K Ramakrishna Rao, a senior section engineer at Vizag was handed over 12 railway wagons, which were declared as 'sick' (unfit).
The CBI claimed that Rao did not make any entry of these in official books and sold them "secretly" to some private party. He has been booked for misappropriation of government funds and forging documents.
<b>CBI sleuths also raided the premises of Dr SPS Bakshi who as an official of the National Institute of Homeopathy accepted huge amounts for granting seats in homeopathic colleges from candidates.</b> CBI also booked owners of Central Council of Homeopathy in the National capital for allegedly giving recognition to some of the homeopathy institutes in the country in an arbitrary manner.
It also raided the office and the residential premises of the i<b>nspector Ishwar Singh, SHO, Tughlak Road, on charges of amassing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.</b> Interestingly, Ishwar Singh was the man responsible for unmasking the match-fixing scandal involving former South African captain Hansie Cronje.<b> A President's Gallantry Medal winner Ishwar Singh is considered as one of the better investigators of Delhi Police </b>who solved many sensational cases.
NS Kahlon, a minister in Parkash Singh Badal government, a former Secretary in the government of Punjab, his private secretary and deputy commissioner of Moga were also raided by the Anti-Corruption Branch of the CBI. They had entered into a criminal conspiracy to cheat the government by taking Rs 2 lakh as illegal gratification from 700 candidates for offering them job as panchayat secretary.
An official of the rank of additional secretary in Government of India and CBI for <b>booked some officials of Modi Xerox allegedly causing loss to the exchequer to the tune of Rs 50 lakh.</b>
In Mumbai, CBI sleuths claimed to have recovered Rs 8 lakh cash from commissioner of Income Tax Tribunal BR Meena, an IRS official of 1977 batch, besides documents showing property worth crores of rupees. CBI sleuths recovered Rs 26 lakh cash from the premises of a Superintendent of Narcotics Control Bureau in Kolkata, Gorachand Chaterjee.
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Pioneer News Service/ New Delhi
The CBI's countrywide raid against corrupt government officials on Friday made news for wrong reasons - information about the raid was leaked out in advance and even reported in Friday's edition of a Delhi newspaper.
<b>As CBI sleuths arrived, they found offices of several government officials locked and officers missing. The subsequent seizure of cash and asset, which were much lower than expected from a raid spread across 58 cities and at 198 locations, made it obvious that the surprise element was completely missing in the entire operation.</b>
That the country's premier investigating agencies was left in a highly embarrassing situation was evident from the fact that it seized only Rs 80 lakh in cash during the raids.
CBI Director US Misra later said that they are trying to identify the officials responsible for the leak and punitive action will be initiated against those found guilty.
During the drive the CBI registered cases under various sections of the Prevention of the Corruption Act, demanding and accepting bribes, disproportionate assets and abuse of the official position to cause monetary gain to private persons and firms and wrongful loss to the government.
The operation was massive. Over 2,000 men and officers of CBI began the nationwide exercise in the wee hours of the day and searched premises of several Government officials, including four officers of the joint secretary level and above. In all, the agency registered 58 cases against 70 public servants. These officials belong to the departments of Customs, Income Tax and BSNL.
The searches were continuing and details were being collected, Mr Misra said. The most interesting case was registered in Visakhapatnam, where the CBI booked a <b>senior railway official for allegedly selling off 12 railway wagons</b>.. According to a CBI FIR, K Ramakrishna Rao, a senior section engineer at Vizag was handed over 12 railway wagons, which were declared as 'sick' (unfit).
The CBI claimed that Rao did not make any entry of these in official books and sold them "secretly" to some private party. He has been booked for misappropriation of government funds and forging documents.
<b>CBI sleuths also raided the premises of Dr SPS Bakshi who as an official of the National Institute of Homeopathy accepted huge amounts for granting seats in homeopathic colleges from candidates.</b> CBI also booked owners of Central Council of Homeopathy in the National capital for allegedly giving recognition to some of the homeopathy institutes in the country in an arbitrary manner.
It also raided the office and the residential premises of the i<b>nspector Ishwar Singh, SHO, Tughlak Road, on charges of amassing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.</b> Interestingly, Ishwar Singh was the man responsible for unmasking the match-fixing scandal involving former South African captain Hansie Cronje.<b> A President's Gallantry Medal winner Ishwar Singh is considered as one of the better investigators of Delhi Police </b>who solved many sensational cases.
NS Kahlon, a minister in Parkash Singh Badal government, a former Secretary in the government of Punjab, his private secretary and deputy commissioner of Moga were also raided by the Anti-Corruption Branch of the CBI. They had entered into a criminal conspiracy to cheat the government by taking Rs 2 lakh as illegal gratification from 700 candidates for offering them job as panchayat secretary.
An official of the rank of additional secretary in Government of India and CBI for <b>booked some officials of Modi Xerox allegedly causing loss to the exchequer to the tune of Rs 50 lakh.</b>
In Mumbai, CBI sleuths claimed to have recovered Rs 8 lakh cash from commissioner of Income Tax Tribunal BR Meena, an IRS official of 1977 batch, besides documents showing property worth crores of rupees. CBI sleuths recovered Rs 26 lakh cash from the premises of a Superintendent of Narcotics Control Bureau in Kolkata, Gorachand Chaterjee.
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