A special CBI court today issued non-bailable warrants (NBWs) against Neeraj Singal, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Bhushan Steel Ltd (BSL), and Purushotam Totlani, an alleged middleman, in connection with the Syndicate Bank bribery case.
Special CBI Judge Swarana Kanta Sharma issued the NBWs against them after CBI's investigating officer (IO) said they were evading arrest in the case and were required to be interrogated to unearth the entire conspiracy.
"Having heard senior public prosecutor for CBI, the IO of the case and having regard to the facts and circumstances of the case that the accused persons are evading arrest, I deem it appropriate to order issuance of NBWs against both the accused persons (Singal and Totlani)," the judge said.
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The order came after the CBI informed the court that both the accused were evading arrest and despite several efforts and repeated notices being served upon them, they have not joined the ongoing probe yet.
The agency also claimed that Singal and Totlani were required to be confronted with other co-accused persons who were arrested in the case and are presently in CBI's custody.
It said that the ongoing probe into the case would be seriously prejudiced if these two accused were not confronted with the other co-accused.
After hearing the submissions of CBI, the court issued the NBWs against both the accused.
The order came a day after the court had dismissed the anticipatory bail plea of Singal observing that he was one of the "key beneficiaries" and was required to be confronted with other co-accused.
The judge had yesterday dismissed the anticipatory bail plea of Singal observing that the offence alleged in the case was serious in nature as it involves huge amount of public money.
