Chennai: Senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram’s son Karti Chidambaram was arrested in Chennai this morning in a corruption case.
He is accused of receiving kickbacks to clear foreign investment worth around Rs. 300 crore in television company INX Media, using the influence of his father, who was then the Union Finance Minister.
The initial case registered against him mentioned that he received Rs. 10 lakh, but sources in the CBI said there is now evidence that he received more. A new case will be registered against him on the basis of fresh information, sources said.
The 46-year-old businessman was taken into custody after he landed from London this morning. He is being questioned inside the airport by officials of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and will be brought to Delhi later in the day, sources said.
In May last year, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed a case against Karti. The CBI filed a separate case against him. The CBI said Karti also received money from INX media to scuttle a tax probe. The firm was owned at the time by Peter and Indrani Mukerjea, who are currently in jail on charges of murdering Mukerjea’s daughter Sheena Bora.
The two agencies carried out a string of raids on the houses and offices owned by the Chidambarams. Karti Chidambaram was questioned several times.
A lookout notice, which alerts airports to stop a passenger from travelling abroad, was also issued against him as the agencies suspected that he would try to close the foreign accounts where he had parked the money from the kickbacks. In November, the Supreme Court allowed Karti to go to the UK for his daughter’s admission in Cambridge University.
ರಾಜಕಾರಿಣಿಗಳು ಎಂದಿಗೂ ಶಿಕ್ಷೆಗೆ ಒಳಗಾಗುವುದೇ ಇಲ್ಲ. ಅದೂ ಅಲ್ಲದೆ 10 ಲಕ್ಷ ಲಂಚ ತೀರ ಕಡಿಮೆ ಮೊತ್ತ. ಕಾರ್ಪೊರೇಟರ್ಗಳೆ ಅದಕ್ಕಿಂತ ಹೆಚ್ಚು ಈ ದಿನ ಹೊಡೆಯುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಮಂತ್ರಿಗಳ ಮಕ್ಕಳ ಮೇಲೆ ಆರೋಪ ಮಾಡುವಾಗ ಸಿಬಿಐ ಸರಿಯಾದ ಮೊತ್ತವನ್ನಾದರೂ ಹೇಳಿ ಅವರ ಮರ್ಯಾದೆ ಉಳಿಸ ಬೇಕಾಗಿ ವಿನಂತಿ. ಸಿಬಿಐ ಒಂದು ಸೊನ್ನೆ ಮರೆತ ಹಾಗಿದೆ.