CWG Scam: Kalmadi may be questioned tomorrow

Sacked Chairman of Commonwealth Games Organising Committee Suresh Kalmadi is likely to be questioned by CBI tomorrow in connection with Queen's Baton Relay scam after the agency received fresh papers from the UK.

Former OC Chairman has been called by the agency sleuths tomorrow to clarify some issues which have surfaced during the visit of two-member team of the agency to London in connection with the alleged irregularities in hiring AM Films and AM Car and Van Hire Limited during QBR held in 2009, highly placed sources said.

Kalmadi did not respond to SMSes seeking his reaction about the development.

A two-member team of the agency comprising Additional Director V K Gupta and DIG S K Palsania has managed to speak to the London-based owner of both the companies -- Ashish Patel -- who has given lot of information and documents with regard to the allegedly overvalued deal.

The documents and records made available by Patel will be provided to the CBI officially in reply to their Letter Rogatory issued to British Authorities, they said.

"The British authorities were very cooperative during the entire visit. They have agreed to provide all the records and documents which we have identified," an official who did not wish to be named said.

These documents, officers say, provide some "clinching" details about the payments made to the two companies allegedly with the sanction of Kalmadi, they said.

CBI sources said the team now wants Kalmadi to reply to the new piece of information on the monetary transactions with the two companies. The agency had called Kalmadi who has informed them that since he was out of country, he can appear only after April 19 to answer its queries.

Sources said the agency had also gathered evidence against Ashish Patel, owner of the firms for allegedly manipulating certain documents to get undue benefits from the deal with the help of some OC officials.

"It is alleged that in relation to the QBR held on October 29, 2009 the OC awarded the work of transportation to the company namely AM Car and Van Hire Ltd, owned by Ashish Patel, at exorbitantly high rates...The work was awarded to AM Car and Van Hire Ltd without following the standard tender process," the FIR registered by CBI said.

The work was given to the firm on the false promise made by it that it was on the panel of Indian High Commission, London, it said.

CBI has registered a total of nine FIRs in different cases related to alleged corruption in the run up to the mega sporting extravaganza held here between October 3-14 last year.