New Delhi: Former Union Minister P. Chidambaram spent the night at the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) headquarters after a dramatic arrest late last night from his house in south Delhi by officials who even climbed a wall in their attempts to get to him.
Chidambaram was put up in “Lock-up suite 3” in the guest-house floor of the CBI building, which was inaugurated in 2011 in his presence as Home Minister of the Congress-led government at the time, he was special guest and, along with then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, was taken on a tour of the building and its lock-up facilities.
Sources say his questioning started this morning and went on for about three hours. Later in the day, the CBI will take him to court and reportedly ask for maximum custody – 14 days – for his interrogation.
Chidambaram is accused of facilitating foreign investment into a television company, INX Media, in 2007, when he was Finance Minister, at the instance of his son Karti Chidambaram, who allegedly received kickbacks. Sources say he will be confronted with files of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board, which Chidambaram headed as minister.
Chidambaram and his son were named by INX co-founders Peter and Indrani Mukerjea, who are currently in jail in connection with the murder of Indrani Mukerjea’s daughter Sheena Bora. Chidambaram has denied the allegations, saying the case is a political witch-hunt by the BJP-led government. Sources say the CBI may also confront the former minister with Indrani Mukherjea’s statement about meeting him over the deal.
This post was published on August 22, 2019 6:39 pm