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Journalism of Courage
AHMEDABAD, OCT 25: The main accused in the High Speed Diesel (HSD) scam Rajiv Shastri, who is general manager of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. in Uttar Pradesh, was detained by the Central Excise and Customs officials on Monday and is being questioned on his sources of income.
After he was grilled by a team of Customs officials at Customs House in Navrangpura, the investigating agency found that Shastri, already an accused in the probe being conducted by the CBI, had also invested Rs 70 crore in different investment plans.
According to the Customs sources, the team also conducted a search operation at Shastri’s safe deposit vault at the State Bank of India from where they found smuggled gold biscuits worth Rs 1.7 lakh. “When we asked from where he got them, he replied that these were gifts from his daughter’s marriage. He was asked to produce documents authenticating his claim, which he failed to do,” an official of Central Excise and Customs said.
The official also said that Shastri had also taken several trips abroad. “In the last couple of years, he went abroad five times. We are also verifying whether he has violated the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act,” the official added.
Earlier, CBI officials led by Superintendent Rajnish Rai had conducted a raid at Shastri’s residence on Drive-In road on May 25 and seized gold biscuits worth Rs 20 lakh. They also recovered several incriminating documents showing huge financial investments done by Shastri, who was then posted as Deputy General Manager of IOCL, Gujarat.
