CBI custody of official held on graft charge extended

A court here on Friday extended the CBI custody of suspended union home ministry undersecretary Anand Joshi, arrested by the CBI on graft charges, for another four days.

Central Bureau of Investigation Special Judge Anju Bajaj Chandna allowed the central agency to quiz Joshi till May 24 when he was presented before her after the expiry of his earlier four-day police remand.

The CBI told the court that it had seized various official documents from his house.

The agency said the accused was required to be confronted with these documents as well to trace his alleged immovable properties.

Joshi had gone missing from his residence in Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh after summons from the Central Bureau of Investigation. He was arrested on May 15 from west Delhi.

Earlier, home ministry sources said that Joshi, recently posted in the Foreigners Division, had access to files related to the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act and was under the scanner for several months.

He was reported to the CBI for allegedly taking bribes to favour certain non-governmental organisations.

Joshi, however, had denied the charge of giving clean chits to NGOs.

--IANS

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