Page 9 - Cbi

Distinguished IIS officer S M Khan dies at 67 after brief illness

S M Khan, a distinguished senior Indian Information Service officer who was the press secretary to former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, died at a private hospital on Sunday after a brief illness, according to his family. He was 67. Khan is survived by his wife and three children. He was a prominent figure in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), serving as the longest-serving information officer for the agency from 1989 to 2002. Throughout his tenure, he became the face of the CBI, regularly addressing the media during high-profile cases, including the Bofors scandal, stock exchange scams and various white-collar crimes. Following his extensive service with the CBI, Khan was appointed as the press secretary to the late President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, a role in which he further solidified his reputation in public communication. After Kalam's term, Khan moved to a prestigious position as the director general of News at Doordarshan. In addition to his notable career in public ser

No criminal conspiracy by ICICI officials in NDTV loan repayment case: CBI

There was no collusion, criminal conspiracy or abuse of position by officials of ICICI Bank in accepting repayment of a loan at a reduced rate of interest from promoters of NDTV Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy, the CBI has concluded in its closure report in the 2017 case. The CBI FIR registered on the basis of a complaint from Sanjay Dutt of Quantum Securities Ltd had alleged that ICICI Bank had sanctioned a loan of Rs 375 crore in 2008 against the entire 61 per cent shareholding of the promoters as collateral. The bank had allegedly accepted the repayment of the loan by reducing the interest rate from 19 per cent per annum to 9.5 per causing a wrongful loss of Rs 48 crore to the bank and corresponding gain to the promoters, it had said. The central investigation agency after nearly seven years of probe came to the conclusion that the reduction of the rate of interest from from 19 per cent to 9.65 per cent as approved on August 5, 2009 was based on various factors -- borrowers' inabili

ONGC ex-manager Sonkar convicted in graft case after 16 year trial

A special CBI court in Ahmedabad has sentenced a former ONGC manager to three years of rigorous imprisonment in a 2006 case of amassing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income, officials said here. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 25 lakh on the accused, Kishanram Hiralal Sonkar, after the protracted trial. The Central Bureau of Investigation had registered an FIR against Sonkar, then Manager, F&A, ONGC, Ankleshwar in 2006 for allegedly amassing illicit assets to the tune of Rs 14.11 lakh between 2002 and 2006 which were 84 per cent over his known sources of income. During the investigation, the CBI detected nearly eight lakh worth of disproportionate assets, taking the total illicit wealth to Rs 22.15 lakh under his possession, they said. The CBI had filed a chargesheet in 2008 after which a long legal battle ensued, culminating in Sonkar's conviction by the special court in Ahmedabad, they said.

SC sends notice to K'taka, Shivakumar on CBI plea over consent withdrawal

The Supreme Court on Friday sought response from the Karnataka government and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on a plea filed by CBI challenging the state government's decision to withdraw its consent to the probe agency for investigating a disproportionate assets (DA) case against the Congress leader. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan issued notice to Shivakumar and the state government while seeking their replies on the plea. The current Karnataka cabinet headed by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on November 23, 2023, held the previous BJP government's 2019 move to give consent to the CBI to investigate the DA case against Shivakumar was not in accordance with law and decided to withdraw the sanction as a result. On August 29, the Karnataka High Court held as "non-maintainable" a petition filed by the CBI and a BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal challenging the Congress government's decision to withdraw the consent. Patil, however, challenged the high court order in

CBI probe initiated against Rahul Gandhi citizenship issue, Delhi HC told

The Delhi High Court was informed on Wednesday that a CBI probe had been initiated into Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's citizenship on a PIL being heard by the Allahabad High Court . When the petitioner, a Karnataka BJP worker, said he had moved a PIL in the Allahabad High Court, a bench of Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela said it didn't want any conflicting orders to be passed. There cannot be two parallel petitions on the same cause of action, said the bench, permitting S Vignesh Shishir to file an affidavit on the relevant developments following his PIL in the Allahabad High Court. The matter before the Delhi High Court was on a plea by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy who sought directions to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to decide his representation seeking cancellation of Gandhi's Indian citizenship. Swamy, in his plea, also sought a direction to the MHA to furnish a status report on the representation filed by him against Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposit

AAP seeks CBI probe into various cases of cash-for-jobs fraud in Goa

The Aam Aadmi Party has demanded a probe by the CBI or a retired high court judge into various cases of cheating on the promise of government jobs in Goa. Talking to reporters on Tuesday in South Goa, state AAP president Amit Palekar also sought an immediate halt of the process of recruitment in government departments. An inquiry should be conducted into the "scam" by the Central Bureau of Investigation. If not the CBI, then the probe should be carried out by a retired high court judge, he said. "The role of insiders in the entire scam should be probed as it does not look like some isolated cases. This is a big racket," he claimed. All senior officers, including those who are close to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, should be held accountable, he said. The Goa police have arrested half-a-dozen persons for their alleged involvement in the cash-for-government jobs scam, recently exposed following a series of cases registered at various police stations in the state. A person who was .

Karnataka BJP demands CBI probe into MUDA scam citing investigation doubts

Notably, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will appear before the Lokayukta police in Mysuru today for an inquiry into the alleged irregularities in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA)

'ITPO official arrested for bribery acquitted; CBI failed to prove case'

A special CBI court has acquitted a deputy manager of the Indian Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) arrested by the CBI four years ago over accusations of taking bribe to book stall space during a fest, noting that the agency failed to prove "acceptance of bribe". The CBI alleged that ITPO deputy manager Akshay Singh counted the phenolphthalein-treated notes received during its trap operation. During the raid, Singh's hands were washed in a solution of sodium carbonate and water which turned pink, indicating that he had touched the notes. This had resulted in his arrest. The defence clinched the acquittal by citing the transcript of a conversation recorded clandestinely by the CBI between Singh and the complainant which showed that both had shared a 'beedi' and were "mingling" with each other on the day the trap took place. Singh was arrested in February 17, 2020 for allegedly manipulating allocation of stall shops at the Aahar Fest scheduled in March that year. The defence lawye

RG Kar case: Not happy with CBI probe, medics announce slew of protests

Almost three months after the rape and murder of a medic at state-run R G Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, junior doctors on Friday said they are not happy with the pace of probe by the CBI into the incident and announced a slew of fresh agitations. The West Bengal Junior Doctors' Forum was also dissatisfied with the central probe agency since the charge sheet it filed before the Supreme Court in the medic's murder case named only one person as accused, who was arrested by the police before the CBI took over the investigation on a Calcutta High Court order. "We will take out a rally in Kolkata on November 9 from College Square to Esplanade along with members of civil society organisations. There will be similar rallies in different parts of West Bengal, Forum spokesperson Debashis Halder told a press meet at R G Kar Hospital. A mass convention will be also held on November 9 on Rani Rashmoni Avenue in Esplanade area demanding justice for the murdered medic. "We are also

Suresh Gopi dares Kerala govt to seek CBI probe into Thrissur Pooram

Amid controversy over his use of an ambulance to reach the Thrissur Pooram venue after hearing that the festival was disrupted, Union Minister Suresh Gopi on Thursday detailed the sequence of events leading to the incident and demanded a CBI probe into the entire episode. Gopi, the Union Minister of State for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Tourism, while not refuting the allegations that he reached the festival site in an ambulance, claimed that he reached close to the festival site in his car, which was then attacked by some 'goondas' of the rival political parties. The Union MoS claimed that he was rescued from there by some youngsters who put him in an ambulance which was there at the festival site to cater to those in distress. "I do not need to explain it further. Let the CBI come and investigate. Do they have the courage to bring the CBI. Their entire politics will go up in flames if it happens. You want the truth to come out, bring the CBI," he said. He further claimed that all

CBI chargesheets Karti Chidambaram, others in Chinese visa corruption case

The CBI has filed a charge sheet against Congress MP Karti Chidambaram and others in connection with alleged bribery in facilitating visas of Chinese nationals for a power company in 2011 when his father P Chidambaram was the Union home minister, officials said on Thursday. In its charge sheet submitted before a special court here, the CBI has named Karti Chidambaram, the Lok Sabha MP from Sivaganga, his alleged close associate S Bhaskararaman, company Talawandi Sabo Power Ltd (TSPL), a subsidiary of Vedanta and Mumbai-based Bell Tools, through which bribes were allegedly routed, they said. The agency has invoked charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating, and forgery under the Indian Penal Code and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, they said. Other charge-sheeted accused include Viral Mehta, Anup Agarwal, Mansoor Siddiqui and Chetan Shrivastava, they said. The CBI has filed the charge sheet after two years of probe into its FIR registered in 2022 where it had alleged t

Morbi bridge tragedy: Gujarat HC rejects demand to transfer case to CBI

The Gujarat High Court has refused to hand over the investigation into the 2022 Morbi bridge collapse tragedy to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as sought by the kin of the victims. The court can not look into the correctness of the ongoing investigation, said a division bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Pranav Trivedi. The court was hearing a suo motu public interest litigation (PIL) initiated after the October 30, 2022, incident at Morbi in Gujarat in which 135 persons lost their lives when a British-era suspension bridge on the Machchhu river collapsed. Some of the victims and kin of the deceased sought reinvestigation of the entire case through the CBI, accusing Gujarat Police of not carrying out a proper investigation and not making any civic official accused despite a Special Investigation Team holding some of them responsible. In a separate application submitted last month seeking a CBI probe, the victims argued that the then district collector was

CBI, ED, I-T should be impartial, not in favour of one party: Karnataka CM

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday said central agencies like CBI, ED and Income Tax should be impartial and not function in favour of one party. He also said that the ruling Congress was ready to face and win November 13 by-polls in three assembly segments in the state. "Nagendra (former Minister B Nagendra) has told the media that he was pressurised by the ED. He also informed me that he was pressurised to name me and D K Shivakumar (Deputy Chief Minister). No agency should work in favour of a party. Whether it is CBI or ED or Income Tax, they should function impartially," Siddaramaiah told reporters. The Chief Minister was responding to former Minister B Nagendra's allegations that he was pressurised by the ED to name him and Shivakumar in the multi-crore scam in Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation. Nagendra had, after walking out of the jail on bail on Wednesday, also charged the ED (Directorate of Enforcement) with arresting him

UPSC deaths: Delhi court to consider charge sheet against CEO, 5 others

CBI has already filed a charge sheet against six accused persons including CEO Abhishek Gupta

Centre issues notification for CBI probe into Assam online trading scam

The Centre has asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe 41 cases linked to a multi-crore online trading scam in Assam. A notification in this connection was issued by the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions on Friday and shared by the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) on 'X' on Saturday. It states, "the powers and jurisdiction of the members of the Delhi Special Police Establishment has been extended throughout the state of Assam for the investigation of offences under relevant sections of IPC/BNS and other Acts as mentioned in the FIRs and any other law related to the 41 police cases, which are registered at various police stations in Assam concerning unregulated deposits involving fraudulent transactions and trading of large sums of money'. The CMO also noted that the state government, under Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, has assured full cooperation to the CBI for a swift probe into these cases. The scam came to light in the last week of August

RG Kar case: CBI cites blood stain, DNA report as evidence in chargesheet

The CBI has listed 11 pieces of evidence, such as reports of DNA and blood samples, in its charge sheet to hold arrested Kolkata Police civic volunteer Sanjay Roy as the "sole accused" in the rape and murder of a woman doctor at the RG Kar hospital here. The agency mentioned the presence of his DNA on the body of the victim, short hair, blood stains of the victim, injuries on his body, the CCTV footage and the location of his mobile phone as per the call detail records as evidence against Roy. The charge sheet, a copy of which is with PTI, also mentioned that Roy sustained "blunt force injuries consistent with the marks of resistance/struggle by the victim". Roy was arrested by Kolkata Police on August 10. "His (Roy's) presence in RG Kar Medical College & Hospital and also at the third floor of the emergency building where SoC (scene of the crime) lies, during the intervening night of August 8 and 9 is proved by way of CCTV footage. His presence is proved by way of the location ..

CBI takes over investigation of 41 online trading scam cases in Assam: CM

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has officially taken over the probe of 41 cases of the online stock trading scam registered across the state. "To ensure a fair investigation on the online stock trading scam, we requested Govt of India to formally hand over all 41 registered cases to the CBI," he said in a post on X. "The CBI is officially taking over this matter and the state government will extend all possible support to ensure that justice is served at the earliest," said Sarma, who also holds the Home portfolio. The online trading scam in the state came to light during the last week of August when investors, who had put in huge amounts of money in 29-year-old Deepankar Barman's company, complained that he had not paid them the due returns and his office has been closed since August 21. He is absconding at present. The Assam cabinet in September decided to transfer 32 cases registered till then in connection

144 candidates paid to get leaked NEET-UG 2024 question paper: CBI

The CBI has identified 144 candidates who had allegedly paid to get NEET-UG leaked and solved papers hours before they were to take the examination for admissions in medical colleges, officials said on Monday. In its third charge sheet filed last week, the CBI has named Pankaj Kumar who stole the papers from Oasis school in Hazaribagh, Jharkhand in collusion with its Principal Ahsanul Haque and Vice-Principal Md Imtiyaz Alam, they said. The crime was allegedly committed once trunks carrying the paper reached the school from the bank vault after 8 AM on May 5, the day of the examination, they said. Haque was the city coordinator for Hazaribagh and Alam was designated the centre superintendent by the National Testing Agency for conducting the NEET UG-2024 examination. The charge sheet with over 5,500 pages carrying findings on the basis of 298 witnesses, 290 documents and 45 material objects gives a detailed modus operandi of the gang that had leaked the paper. Haque and Alam allege

Rs 500 cr app scam: Delhi Police summons Rhea, Bharti Singh, her husband

Bollywood actor Rhea Chakraborty, comedian Bharti Singh and her husband Harsh Limbachiyaa have been sent notices by the Delhi Police to join the probe into a Rs 500-crore app-based fraud, officials said on Saturday, an official said. Delhi Police on Thursday claimed to have busted the scam involving HIBOX, a mobile application that allegedly lured people into investing money through it with the promise of high returns. As per complaints, nine social media influencers and YouTubers, including Bharti Singh, Harsh Limbachiya, Lakshay Choudhary, Adarsh Singh, Saurav Joshi, Abhishek Malhan, Purav Jha, Elvish Yadav and Amit and Dilraj Singh Rawat, promoted the app and lured people into investing money through it. Rhea Chakraborty was also among those who promoted the app, said the officer privy to the investigation in the matter. The Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) unit of the police has sent Rhea, Bharti and her husband notices to join the probe next week, the office

NEET UG row: CBI files third chargesheet against 21 in paper leak case

CBI initiated investigations earlier this year following a controversy over alleged irregularities in the conduct of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) 2024