CBI raiding Kalmadi houses an eyewash: BJP

India’s main Oppposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday said the raids in the houses of Commonwealth Games Organising Committee (OC) chief Suresh Kalmadi were an “eyewash” to fool the common people.

Calling the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raids on Suresh Kalmadi an eyewash, BJP spokesperson Tarun Vijay said the raids were being conducted ‘a bit too late’.

He alleged the the CBI was not finding the ‘real culprits’ in the Commonwealth Games scams, that tarnished the country’s image in the world.

The CBI has been carrying out raids at Kalmadi’s residences in Pune and Delhi since Friday morning. The CBI sources said the raids began at about 7 am when a team over 10 agency sleuths simultaneously entered both the premises.

Besides Kalmadi, the premises of his private secretary Manoj Bhure were also being searched by the CBI.

The raids comes days after it was reported that some of the important documents, which could throw light on the Games deals, have gone missing.

The CBI believed the papers either destroyed or hidden in collusion with Games officials. The files, which had records on tendering, budgetary allocation and contract details, are missing from the Organising Committee (OC) office.

The CBI had sought expulsion of Kalmadi from the post, but the Government admitted that it was helpless as the body was autonomous. The CBI had alleged the Games members were obstructing the probe.

The investigating agency had written to the Cabinet Secretary saying Kalmadi and his deputy Lalit Bhanot from their OC posts were preventing the investigations.

BJP leader Tarun Vijay said all these facts were enough to show how the Government was reacting to the scams. He said much time has given to the scamsters to remove documents.