The CBI on Tuesday arrested an official and a supplier in connection with its probe into irregularities during the Commonwealth Games. The agency said it had arrested K U K Reddy,a former IAF Group Captain who was Additional Director General of Finance and Accounts in the Organising Committee,and ESAJV Director Praveen Bakshi who supplied overlays for the event. They will be produced in court on Wednesday,a CBI official said. According to CBI,Bakshi came under the scanner for charging hefty prices for sundry items supplied during the CWG. During investigations,it came to light that ESAJV was overcharging for each item supplied as compared to other vendors. For a liquid soap dispenser Nussli of Switzerland was charging Rs 185 as rent while Bakshi billed the OC for Rs 9,380 for the same item. Similarly,Pico Deepali Overlays Consortium charged Rs 1.50 for a single disposable glass but the ESAJV consortium charged Rs 37 per glass, a CBI official said. According to the CBI,bribes were paid to get orders cleared and OC officials played a role. Reddy,a Group Captain,joined the Finance and Accounts division as Director. He got two promotions and became Additional Director General. He allegedly cleared the payments to the firms after they were allotted the orders. During questioning,he was evasive, said an officer who is part of the probe team. CBI DIG and spokesperson Binita Thakur told Newsline: We have made two arrests in connection with the FIR registered on overlays. They will be produced before the court. The agency had earlier arrested Meroform Director Binu Nanu and Shekhar Deorukhkar,personal assistant of OC chief Suresh Kalmadi.
