Delhi court extends custody of man in Chhattisgarh graft case

A court here on Monday extended the custody of a man who was arrested in connection with a corruption case against Chhattisgarh IAS officer B.L. Agrawal.

Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Special Judge Virender Kumar Goyal allowed the probe agency to further quiz the Hyderabad-based private person, Syed Burhanuddin.

Burhanuddin, who was arrested on February 23, was presented before the court on expiry of his five-day CBI custody.

The probe agency has sought extension of custody on the ground that he has to be confronted with other accused, including B.L. Agrawal, who were arrested on February 21 and are currently in the CBI custody.

The other accused were arrested for helping Agrawal to settle a case being investigated by the agency.

Apart from Agrawal, a 1988-batch IAS officer, posted as the Principal Secretary (Higher Education) in Chhattisgarh government, his brother-in-law Anand Agrawal and a private person Bhagwan Singh, a resident of Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh, are also accused in the case.

The agency on February 18 registered an FIR against Agrawal, Singh, Burhanuddin and others under relevant sections of criminal conspiracy and Prevention of Corruption Act.

The CBI said that the IAS officer had agreed to pay Rs 1.5 crore to Burhanuddin as gratification for helping him in a case being investigated by the agency.

The probe agency alleged that Agrawal first approached Singh over the issue, who arranged his meeting with Burhanuddin on February 11 in Delhi. Burhanuddin told the Chhattisgarh officer that he works in the Prime Minister's Office and would easily settle the matter in his favour in lieu of Rs 1.5 crore gratification.

The officer said that Burhanuddin also assured Agrawal that he would get the case transferred from the CBI to the Chhattisgarh Economic Offences Wing.

--IANS

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