CBI questions Kalmadi on CWG
By IANSWednesday, January 5, 2011
NEW DELHI - The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Wednesday questioned for more than five hours Commonwealth Games Organising Committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi in connection with alleged financial irregularities in the preparations for the October Games.
A CBI source said the questioning began Wednesday morning and was continuing even after five hours.
The CBI is probing irregularities in the award of contracts during the Queen’s Baton Relay ceremony in London in October 2009 as also wrongdoing in awarding a contract of Rs.107 crore for procuring timing equipment for the athletics event of the Games.
The Delhi and Pune homes of Kalmadi including the Organising Committee’s office were raided by the CBI Dec 24 and stacks of documents, laptops and computer discs were seized in the eight-hour-long search. The raids came two months after the mega event concluded amid allegations of major financial irregularities.
Kalmadi insisted that he was innocent and was ready to face any investigation over charges of financial wrongdoing in the conduct of the Oct 3-14 Games.
Three of Kalmadi’s aides - Organising Committee joint director T.S. Darbari, Deputy Director General Sanjay Mohindroo and former treasurer M. Jayachandran - are already in jail.
The agency has so far filed three complaints of alleged irregularities in the CWG preparations. Two of the first information reports are about the contract to AM Films, a firm in London, for the Queen’s Baton Relay function.
The third is related to Rs.107 crore spent on overlays at the CWG Village and other Games venues.
