CBI ARRESTS KARTI AIDE AS PART OF INVESTIGATION IN ₹50L BRIBE CASE

HT Correspondent

NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday arrested a close aide and chartered accountant of Congress leader Karti Chidambaram, in connection with its probe related to ₹50 lakh bribe for facilitating project visas for Chinese nationals in 2011, when P Chidambaram, Karti Chidambaram’s father, was the union home minister.

People familiar with the development said S Bhaskararaman was arrested early on Wednesday after several hours of questioning.

A senior officer at the central agency who asked not to be named claimed there was e-mail evidence linking the bribe and the project visas.

On Tuesday, CBI raided the premises of the Chidambarams and Bhaskararaman besides Vedanta Group’s firm Talwandi Sabo Power Ltd (TSPL), claiming ₹50 lakh was paid to a firm, Advantage Strategic Consulting Pvt Ltd (ASCPL), controlled by Karti Chidambaram, for facilitating “project visas” for 263 Chinese nationals, who were to work at Vedanta group’s 1980 megawatt thermal power project, run by its subsidiary TSPL at Banawala village in Punjab’s Mansa district.

The case dates back to events that allegedly took place between July and September 2011, when P Chidambaram was the union home minster in United Progressive Alliance’s second term. Visa clearances come under the purview of the ministry of home affairs. Soon after the raids, P Chidambaram in a tweet questioned the timing of the CBI case. Karti Chidambaram, who represents Sivaganga Lok Sabha constituency, said he has lost count of the number of raids on him.

THE CASE DATES BACK TO EVENTS THAT ALLEGEDLY TOOK PLACE IN 2011, WHEN P CHIDAMBARAM WAS THE UNION HOME MINSTER