Rajnath Singh summons Home Secy, CBI chief over Matang sinh arrest row
NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh Wednesday summoned Home Secretary Anil Goswami in connection with reports that a top ministry official had allegedly made attempts to stall arrest of Congress leader Matang Sinh by CBI in connection with the Saradha scam.
The Home Minister called Goswami soon after he came to office this morning. They discussed the issue for nearly an hour.It is believed that he might have been asked about attempts by a senior ministry official on Saturday when the CBI decided to place Sinh, a former union minister of state for home, under arrest.After the meeting, Goswami refused to take any questions from the media.
This meeting was immediately followed by Singh calling CBI Director Anil Sinha, who apparently briefed the minister about the sequence of events that unfolded ahead Sinh’s arrest.Sinha also refused to take any questions from the waiting media outside the office of the Home Minister. The director held a separate meeting with Goswami.The CBI is believed to have sent a report to the Prime Minister’s Office in this regard, sources in the agency said.
The Home Minister was briefed by officials about reports suggesting that a top ministry official had allegedly attempted to stop the arrest of Sinh who was picked up by CBI in Kolkata on Saturday.India’s Home Secretary Anil Goswami has reportedly admitted to making a telephone call to the CBI on behalf of a politician who was arrested recently in the Saradha chit fund scam.
Sources say Mr Goswami was asked by Home Minister Rajnath Singh to explain reports that he was the official who had tried to stall the arrest of Congress leader and former union minister Matang Sinh.Reports had said that a top official had “tried to influence, even dissuade” the CBI from acting against Mr Sinh.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been briefed by the home minister, say sources, and the two may decide on the next step, which could be taken after the Delhi election on Saturday.Sources say the government does not want to make any move in the middle of polls in the capital; the home secretary has to oversee security during voting. The results will be announced on Tuesday.Anil Goswami retires in July after a two-year tenure.
Matang Sinh, a former junior home minister, was arrested last week for alleged criminal conspiracy, cheating and misappropriation of funds related to the Saradha scam in which thousands of small investors were cheated out of their savings. He had been named by arrested Saradha chairman Sudipta Sen in a letter to the CBI last year. Several leaders of Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress have been arrested or accused in the case.
Anil Goswami is the third top official to land in trouble with the government. Last week, the government removed Sujatha Singh as Foreign Secretary, seven months before her retirement, and replaced her with S Jaishankar, the former US envoy.Earlier this year, top missile scientist Avinash Chander was removed as chief of India’s Defence Research organization.
