Kalmadi walks out smiling after CBI questioning (Second Lead)
By IANSWednesday, January 5, 2011
NEW DELHI - Unfazed by the over eight hours of questioning in connection with allegations of financial irregularities ahead of the Commonwealth Games, Organising Committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi walked out smiling from the CBI headquarters here Wednesday evening.
Kalmadi walked into the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) headquarters Wednesday morning and came out only around 6.50 p.m. A smiling Kalmadi walked out and stepped into his car without making any comments or answering any questions from the waiting media persons.
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.
Sources said the questioning centred around the overlays contract, A.M. films deal and the purchase of the aerostat - one of the main attractions of the mega sporting event.
Officials added that he may be called for interrogation again after CBI matches his answers with records.
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 searches. The raids came two months after the mega event concluded amid allegations of major financial irregularities.
Kalmadi has been insisting that he is innocent and is 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.
