CBI arrests Arvind Kejriwal’s principal secretary Rajender Kumar in 50 crore scam

CBI had raided Kumar’s office at the Delhi secretariat in December

AB Wire

In a move that could worsen the rift between the Aam Admi Party government of Delhi and the Central Government, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s principal secretary Rajender Kumar, and Deputy Secretary Tarun Sharma on Monday in connection with a 50-crore corruption case.

The CBI had called both the officers to its headquarters for questioning. The investigation agency finally decided to arrest both after having questioned them for almost a day, reported Hindustan Times.

The CBI also arrested Rajender Kumar’s friend Ashok Kumar, and Sandeep Kumar and Dinesh Gupta, the directors of a private firm Endeavour Systems Private Limited, a front company that was allegedly created by Rajender Kumar.

According to the agency, Rajender Kumar created Endeavour Systems Private Limited along with Ashok Kumar in 2006 to provide IT solutions. The IAS officer allegedly awarded government contracts worth Rupees 50 crore to the company between 2007 and 2015 without inviting tenders causing huge loss to the government exchequer as the amounts were unduly high.

The two officers had also taken undue benefits of Rupees three crores to award the tenders, said the CBI. The agency said that Rajender Kumar was the mastermind of the corruption.

“All 5 accused including Rajendra Kumar will be produced in Delhi’s Patiala House court tomorrow. Allegations related to bribery and abuse of position against them, further probe underway,” CBI spokesperson RK Gaur was quoted as saying by DNA.

Reacting to the arrest of bureaucrats, Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said that the central government was trying to prevent the growth of the AAP in many states. “The central government has stooped to a new low seeing the gains made by the Aam Aadmi Party in Goa, Punjab and other states,” he said.

On December 15, 2015, the CBI had conducted a raid at Rajender Kumar’s office at the Delhi secretariat. After the raid, Arvind Kejriwal had lashed out at Nrendra Modi calling him “a coward and a psychopath.”