CBI extends custody of graft accused

NEW DELHI : The CBI custody of a man claiming to be an official of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) was extended by five days, in an alleged bribery case involving the principal secretary in the Chhattisgarh government, BL Agrawal and two others, by a Delhi court on Monday.

The court extended the custody of Syed Burhanuddin, after the CBI submitted that it was necessary for him to be confronted with Agrawal and two other accused— Bhagwan Singh and Anand Agarwal —who were arrested in the case.

Special CBI judge Virender Kumar Goyal allowed the CBI, a plea seeking extension of his custody, after the accused was produced before him on the expiry of his five-day police custody.

“More public figures are expected to be apprehended in the case,” The CBI told the court.

The probe is at a very initial stage and we have to unearth a deep-rooted conspiracy,” the CBI added.

Burhanuddin had allegedly demanded ₹1.5 crore as illegal gratification from Agrawal, who is also in police custody in the same case along with others, for “settling” a case pending against the 1988 batch IAS officer, the CBI alleged.

The agency also said that Agarwal, Burhanuddin and Singh met in Delhi on February 11, 2017.

In the meeting, Agarwal agreed to pay ₹1.5 crore to get his case transferred to the Economic Offences Wing of the Chhattisgarh government.

Following the ‘deal’, the IAS officer paid more than ₹ 45 lakh between 11 and 16 February to the two contacts of Bhagwan and Burhanuddin in Raipur.

The money was meant to be sent to Delhi through the hawala route.

Agrawal promised to pay the rest of the amount in the form of two kilogrammes of gold.

During investigation, searches were conducted at the premises of the accused and hawala operators in Raipur, Hyderabad, New Delhi and Greater Noida. The CBI recovered two-kg gold during the searches.