CBI books ex-NIA officer for fraudulently obtaining call records of person

The CBI has booked former NIA officer Jalaj Srivastava for obtaining CDR of a person allegedly at the insistence of the wife of IRS officer Sansar Chand, who is facing a probe in a corruption case

The CBI has booked former National Investigation Agency (NIA) officer Jalaj Srivastava for obtaining the call detail records (CDR) of a person allegedly at the insistence of the wife of IRS officer Sansar Chand, who is facing a probe in a corruption case, officials said on Friday.

The then GST commissioner, Kanpur, Chand and his wife Avinash Kaur were arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2018 in a corruption case for allegedly seeking a bribe of Rs 1.5 lakh from a Kanpur-based businessman, they said.

Chand and Kaur were neighbours of Srivastava at HUDCO place, Andrews Ganj, the officials said.

They allegedly contacted Srivastava to help provide the CDR of a mobile phone number of one Sudesh Saini, the officials added.

The activities of the couple were under the scanner of a special unit of the CBI, which intercepted a phone call between Kaur and Srivastava and informed the NIA about alleged nefarious activities of the officer, they said.

During an internal probe of the NIA, it emerged that Srivastava allegedly sought call records on three occasions in 2017 and 2018, citing their requirements in a case being probed by the premier investigating agency, the officials said.

He allegedly asked the staff of an IPS officer to send an e-mail to the service provider seeking the CDR, citing their requirement in the case, they added.

The report shows that Srivastava successfully managed to get the CDR of two mobile phone numbers, which he allegedly forwarded to Kaur, the officials said.

Srivastava is now posted in his parent cadre -- the Border Security Force -- they said.

After getting the inquiry report, the CBI sought the home ministry's sanction to book Srivastava.

The agency booked him after getting the ministry's nod.