Suresh Kalmadi suspended from Congress
Hours after Suresh Kalmadi, the sacked chief of the 2010 Commonwealth Games (CWG) organising committee, was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) over financial irregularities during the event, the Congress suspended him from the party.
According to reports, the party’s Disciplinary Action Committee suspended Kalmadi, who was a Congress MP from Pune Monday evening.
Kalmadi has reportedly been arrested under Sections 120 B and 420 (criminal conspiracy and cheating) of the Indian Penal Code in the CWG Time Scoring Equipment scam.
Kalmadi will be produced in court on Tuesday. The CBI is likely to seek a 14-day remand to interrogate him on the Timer scam.
Reacting to his arrest, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Nitin Gadkari said: ?Kalmadi?s arrest is tip of the iceberg. The Group of Ministers (GoM) and Prime Minister?s Office (PMO) are involved. CBI must act against all; otherwise Kalmadi arrest is an eyewash.?
Earlier on Monday morning, Kalmadi reached the offices of the federal investigating agency to appear for the fourth round of questioning.
Last week on Wednesday he seemed to dodge interrogation for the the third time in less than a week even as media reports said agencies had found enough evidence to pin him.
Earlier the V K Shunglu Committee, set up by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to probe Commonwealth Games (CWG) scandal, had blamed Kalmadi for financial irregularities and misusing his powers.
The Committee has submitted a 534-page report on the CWG scam to the PM, where it said Kalmadi ran the OC ?like a club?-misusing his powers, removing employees who objected to his actions and favouring selected contractors.
The government is conducting thorough probes into the reported scams in the CWG, which New Delhi hosted last October.
Kalmdadi, a Congress party member is being investigated for his possible role in the misappropriation of USD 10 Billion allotted for hosting the games. He has already been quizzed more than once by investigating agencies.
In recent weeks the investigation has seen some of Kalmadi’s closest aides being arrested for their role in the alleged scandal.
On Wednesday, Kalmadi failed to turn up at a scheduled interrogation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as a note from his office informed he was ?unwell?, media reports said. Earlier he also skipped the quizzing set on Apr 15 and Apr 19.
According to CBI sources, on Apr 15 he had said that he was out of the country and would appear on Apr 19. However, on Wednesday, he failed to turn up and postponed the meeting for Thursday. On Thursday, he was ?unwell?.
Media reports said that the CBI wanted to question Kalmadi since it had found fresh leads over irregularities in hiring media firm AM Films. The federal agency is now said to have ample proof regarding the questionable hiring of the company.
London-based AM Films was hired, purportedly at exorbitant rates, in September 2009 to provide outdoor advertising for the Queen’s Baton Relay which marked the beginning of the Commonwealth Games.