NEW DELHI, APRIL 5: Ashok Agarwal, former deputy director in the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and accused in two CBI cases, was today transferred and posted in the ``region of Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, West Bengal'', with effect from February 28.The transfer order of Agarwal, a 1985 Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer, was issued today and signed by B K Arora, deputy secretary, Government of India. Sources said that Agarwal will proceed to Guwahati and then to Itanagar, his final destination - falling in the region of IT Chief Commissioner, West Bengal. This is one way to ensure, sources said, that Agarwal - known to have powerful friends - won't be able to ``influence or threaten'' the witnesses in the cases against him.The CBI has booked him for amassing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income and for colluding with Abhishek Verma to falsely incriminate a Delhi-based jeweller Subhash Barjatya in a FERA case.Agarwal was under suspension since December 28, 1999, after his arrest by the CBI. He remained in judicial custody for over one month before being granted bail. The bail order, incidentally, has been challenged by the CBI and is to be heard on April 26.Before his arrest, he had been on compulsory wait with the Revenue Department since January 1999, when he was removed from the ED following several complaints of corruption and misuse of power against him. All the while, he was getting his full salary.Officials said that the transfer should have happened when Agarwal was shunted out of ED amid serious allegations. The Ministry of Finance did not take any action against him even after he disappeared from Delhi without informing anyone when CBI was looking for him. It was only five days after his arrest from Saharanpur on December 23 that he was put under suspension.Incidentally, Agarwal's file of property has returned, which had mysteriously disappeared from the ED office when CBI investigations started against him, is still untraced.
