Two top former officials of the Commonwealth Games organising committee, T.S. Darbari and M. Jayachandran, now both under arrest by the CBI, have reportedly told their interrogators that they had no role to play in finalising the deals and put the entire onus on OC chairman Suresh Kalmadi for all Games-related scams. Mr Kalmadi, who is now in China attending the ongoing Asian Games in Guangzhou, is all set to be questioned by the CBI on his return to India.
Both Mr Darbari and Mr Jayachandran, along with the third arrested OC official, Sanjay Mohindroo, were produced on Monday before a CBI court here, which remanded them to the agency’s custody for three days for questioning over the alleged bungling in the Queen’s Baton Relay in London last year. Mr Darbari, former joint director-general (revenue and marketing), and Mr Mahendroo, deputy director-general (marketing), were already in CBI custody following their arrest on November 15, while Mr Jayachandran, sacked joint director-general (accounts and finance), was arrested on Sunday in connection with the investigation in the two cases registered by the CBI last week.
The CBI, seeking a further seven-day remand of Mr Darbari and Mr Mahendroo, submitted that both these accused were not cooperating with the investigation and were not forthcoming in their replies to queries posed to them. The court, however, granted remand for only three days, as it did with Mr Jayachandran. They have been charged under Sections 468 (forgery of court records and public documents), 471 (using forged documents as genuine) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code as well as under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Sources said that Mr Darbari, during interrogation, revealed the names of some top OC members, including Mr Kalmadi, who had played a crucial role in awarding the controversial contract to London-based A.M. Films related to the baton relay. Mr Darbari reportedly told interrogators that he was being victimised and his name was being unnecessarily dragged into the controversy. He insisted that the major role in the awarding of this contract was played by top OC members, the sources added.
The CBI is also collecting “expense receipts” of OC members who had gone to London for the baton relay. The sources said at least two delegation members had been given corporate credit cards. The investigation has so far revealed that expense records related to these corporate credit cards were not maintained by the OC.
The sources added: “Mr Jayachandran, during interrogation, told interrogators that top OC members should be held responsible for not maintaining expense receipts during the QBR. Mr Jayachandran also alleged that deals related to the QBR and other contracts were finalised by the OC top brass.” The agency is now preparing to question these top OC members, including Mr Kalmadi.
The sources said the CBI has got evidence about correspondence between private firms and some OC members through emails regarding finalising of deals. Some of these emails also had references on dilution of the terms and conditions of certain contracts, the sources added.