Delhi govt officials harassed after CBI raid: Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday alleged that a group of state government officials were summoned by the CBI, whose officers hurled "choicest abuses" at them and threatened to "ruin" their career if they sided with him following last year's raid at his office.

Kejriwal also accused the Narendra Modi government of using the CBI to "silence" those who raise their voice against him.

"The raid took place on December 15, but what happened after that was more dangerous. From December 15 to mid-April, the CBI summoned around 150 officers without giving notice. They would only call and ask them to come to the CBI office. Since officers don't want to get entangled (with CBI), they would come and tell me that the CBI has summoned them.

They would call them, make them wait for two hours and then call them inside. They would hurl choicest abuses at the officers and threatened to ruin their career. They would ask them who comes to meet the CM? Who prepares his minutes, who prepares his notings? Is this the work of CBI?" he said.

Kejriwal claimed that Delhi government officials were asked to "leave the side of the Chief Minister" or face consequences like Rajendra Kumar, his principal secretary, whose office in the CM's Secretariat was raided by the CBI.

"They have threatened many officers, but they could achieve nothing," Kejriwal said, participating in a panel discussion on 'CBI X-Rayed' organised by Delhi Administration Officers' Academic Forum.

CBI had raided his office premises over charges of corruption against Kumar, but Kejriwal claimed "I was the real target".

Kejriwal claimed if CBI officers try to act freely in an unbiased manner, they are shunted out.

"The officers know that if they show some independence then tomorrow they will be transferred out...It has happened so many times," Kejriwal said.

Kejriwal said the judge who has passed "stricture" against CBI in the case pertaining to raid on his office has been transferred.

The AAP chief alleged every government at the Centre has used the CBI to "threaten and arm-twist the opposition".

"We all have been saying that CBI should be independent, but CBI directly reports to the PM. Earlier it would report to Dr Manmohan Singh and now it reports to Shri Narendra Modi. Every party or government in power misuses CBI, to threaten and arm-twist other parties. During the time of Manmohan Singh, when he had no majority, the CBI was used to ensure he has majority.

"Now anyone wanting to raise his voice is silenced using the fear of CBI. They tried to do that with us. In December they raided my office and it was said that the raid was on the office of my personal secretary. But there is no separate personal secretary's office, the entire floor is my office. So they raided the floor. They had come to examine my files," he alleged.

Making fun of the raid, Kejriwal said the exercise could not even "recover the cost incurred on undertaking it".

"If you look at it honestly, the PM found me the most corrupt person in the country which is why he engineered a raid. Obviously the target was Arvind Kejriwal, to get some evidence against me," Kejriwal said.

He said the talk of an independent CBI will remain a talk unless there is a person with a strong conviction at the top.

"The talk about CBI's independence will keep going on till the time there is an honest person at the top who would say with conviction that I don't have to hide anything and the CBI should be independent. But I don't see anyone like this and I don't see it happening," Kejriwal said.

"If the PM asks CBI to intensify investigation, Mayawati and Mulayam Singh get a sprain in their neck," Kejriwal said.

The AAP chief said every political leader badmouths his opponent during the elections, but they unite afterwards.

"Now that I meet everyone and meet many big leaders, I get to know that they badmouth everyone during elections. After polls, they unite. Is this their political compulsion?" he said.