Scribe held for illegal financial deals gets bail

New Delhi, June 8: A Delhi court on Friday granted bail to journalist Upendra Rai, who was arrested by the CBI for his alleged involvement in dubious financial transactions. Special CBI Judge Santosh Snehi Mann granted the relief to Rai on a bail bond of ` 5 lakh and two sureties of the like amount. Seeking bail in the case, Rai had claimed that no purpose would be served by keeping him in further custody. The journalist had tended that he was not required for further custodial interrogation since the Central Bureau of Investigation ( CBI) plea for it was rejected by the court on May 9. Rai was arrested by the CBI on May 3. The scribe was arrested for allegedly indulging in dubious financial transactions and getting an airport access pass made by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security ( BCAS) by furnishing false information. The SC had on May 4 refused to interfere with his arrest. In his application seeking protection from arrest, Rai had claimed he was framed in the case because of his writings against an Enforcement Directorate officer who was part of the team probing the 2G spectrum allocation scam case. Prasun Roy, chief security officer of Air One Aviation Pvt Ltd, was also booked by the CBI, which had carried out searches at eight locations in Lucknow, Noida, Delhi and Mumbai. In its FIR, the agency has alleged that going by the value of the transactions, Rai’s accounts received more than ` one lakh during 2017.