PC spends quiet night at CBI HQ opened by him
Former finance minister and senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram, after his dramatic arrest on Wednesday in connection with the INX Media case, spent the night at the CBI headquarters, the building that was inaugurated when he was the country’s home minister.
Sources in the agency said Mr Chidambaram spent a quiet night in the CBI guesthouse on the ground floor of the building. He was kept in the suite 5 of the guesthouse.
“Normally the agency keeps high security arrested accused in the guesthouse to ensure proper security and monitoring,” sources said. Mr Chidambaram who served as the home minister during November 2008 to July 2012 was one of guests at the inauguration event of CBI headquarters in the presence of then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Chidambaram, accompanied by the members of the investigation team, was brought to the CBI headquarters at around 10 pm on Wednesday. After a proper medical check-up by a doctor from the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, he was taken to the room where he spent a quiet night, sources said adding mostly he remained silent except answering a few queries as and when questioned by the CBI officers.
His questioning started at around 10 on Thursday. Initially, he was questioned by DySP R Parthasarthy who is leading the probe in the alleged corruption in Rs 305 crore Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance given to INX media when he was the Union finance minister, sources said. The firm once promoted by Peter and Indrani Mukerjea, both in jail for murdering latter’s daughter Sheena Bora, had allegedly made payments to a firm linked to finance minister’s son Karti Chidambaram, the CBI has said in the FIR.
Mr Chidambaram has strongly denied the allegations.