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Journalism of Courage
A local CBI court on Tuesday extended the police custody of two Food Corporation of India (FCI) officials and the owner of a private grain firm — all of whom were arrested by the agency on charges of corruption earlier this month.
The FCI officials had been arrested as part of a nationwide crackdown carried out by the CBI against a corrupt syndicate of FCI officials, rice mill owners and grain merchants.
The two arrested FCI officials were identified as Deputy General Manager (DGM), Rajiv Kumar Mishra, and the Divisional Manager of FCI, Satish Verma. The owner of the private grain firm was identified as Ravinder Singh Khaira.
On Tuesday, the investigation agency produced the three accused before court and requested for nine days of extension of custody. The court, however, after listening to the plea granted the CBI four more days for interrogation. The premier investigation agency, which is conducting a nationwide ‘Operation Kanak’, told the court that the three accused were reportedly not cooperating with them and their voices samples are yet to collected.
The agency has submitted an application in the court for procuring the voice samples of the accused, after receiving a consent from the three men about the same. Advocate Siddharth Pandita, representing accused Satish Verma, said, “We opposed the nine days of police custody sought by the CBI, which was on frivolous grounds. The court later allowed only four days of custody”.
The agency also told the local court that the record in the cell phones of accused persons is yet to be retrieved and they are yet to examine the recovered evidences, property details and the functioning of many FCI officials, who were under their scanner. CBI Inspector Arjun Kumar Maurya of the Anti-Corruption wing is leading the probe in the alleged corruption syndicate.
According to the FIR registered by the CBI against at least 74 people — including serving and retired FCI officials — a corruption syndicate was being operated throughout the country, including in Punjab. The bureau has claimed that some private individuals, in association with FCI officials, have been selling their low quality grain to the Food Corporation after tampering the results of many quality tests.
FCI officer, Rajiv Kumar, and grain firm owner, Ravinder Singh Khaira, of Mohali were arrested red-handed for accepting and giving a bribe of Rs 50,000 on January 10. Their interrogation led the agency to Satish Verma, a divisional manager with a laboratory in FCI. Verma was arrested on January 14.
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