New Delhi:
Suresh Kalmadi has been arrested in connection with the Commonwealth Games scam. CBI sources have told NDTV that a formal announcement on Kalmadi's arrest will be made this afternoon.
Speaking on Mr Kalmadi's arrest, BJP said it's better late than never.
Mr Kalmadi is being interrogated at the CBI headquarters in New Delhi. This is the fourth time that Kalmadi, the man who led the team that organised the Commonwealth Games in India, is being interrogated.
Mr Kalmadi served as the Chairman of the Organising Committee that has been drenched in corruption charges. The Games were held in India in September last year, and various close aides of Mr Kalmadi have already been arrested. Team Kalmadi was allegedly in the habit of handing out contracts to firms that provided equipment or services at exorbitant rates; reasonable bids from other firms were allegedly ignored.
While Mr Kalmadi's own role has long been suspect, the CBI believes it finally has enough evidence to prove his corruption. The Queen's Baton Relay which kickstarted the Games was held in London in September 2009. A London-based firm named AM Films was hired by Mr Kalmadi to provide taxis, portable toilets and massive public TV screens for the ceremony. Mr Kalmadi sanctioned transfers of huge amounts of cash to AM Film and its owner, Ashish Patel, even though there was no signed contract. Mr Kalmadi later told NDTV that because London officials had requested equipment at the last minute, he did not have the time to process a contract. AM Films charged phenomenal amounts for its services. The financial track record of Mr Patel proved to be dubious. And then emails surfaced that's showed Mr Kalmadi's close aides instructing Mr Patel for what rates to charge the Committee.
A team from the CBI has reportedly met with Mr Patel in London, and is encouraging him to turn approver. It has also discovered that three other bids made by other UK firms for the Queen's Baton Relay function were forged - most likely in an attempt to prove that due process had been followed in considering offers from a series of companies.
Mr Kalmadi's associates had first said that AM Films had been suggested as a potential contractor by the Indian High Commission in London. It was soon proved that the emails being brandished by the Organizing Committee to prove this were doctored.