Chennai: 5 gutka accused sent for quizzing in CBI custody for four days
Chennai: Principal special court for CBI cases, Chennai, on Monday sent five persons arrested in connection with multi crore gutka scam to CBI custody for four days.
When custody petition filed by CBI came up for hearing before the special court on Monday, special judge A.Thiruneela Prasad sent them to CBI custody for four days. The judge directed CBI personnel to produce them back to the court on Friday.
Special public prosecutor for CBI, Balaji, submitted that the gutka products were banned in Tamil Nadu in 2013. However, gutka barons A.V. Madhavrao and P.V. Shrinivasa Rao were engaged in selling the products freely even after the ban. Colluding with the officials they had even renewed the licence of the companies.
Food safety and drug administration department official Dr P. Senthil Murugan had received bribe of Rs 2.5 lakh per month from Madhavrao regularly. And, central excise superintendent N.K. Pandyan received a bribe of Rs 25,000 for issuing permission to machines used in producing gutka and other related products.
They paid a bribe of Rs 15 crore in 2014 and Rs 40 crore in 2015-2016 to several persons, including officials. All these were mentioned in diaries seized from Madhavrao during I-T raids in 2016. Hence, it is important to take them under custody of CBI to get to more details about the scam. He said only then, the CBI can able to investigate the scam properly and arrest kingpins involved in the scam. The counsel also assured that he would submit additional documents before the court in the next hearing.
Vehemently opposing police custody, the counsel for accused, said CBI arrested five persons without issuing any notice. Though they were arrested on September 5, the CBI produced them before the court on September 6. Later, the judge adjourned the matter to afternoon for passing orders.
When the court taken up the matter in the evening, the judge sent them to CBI custody for four days and directed the CBI to produce them before the court on Friday.
On September 6, CBI arrested Madhavrao and four others following sensational raids at about 35 places across Tamil Nadu and other States. CBI sleuths raided multiple premises, including those belonging to state health minister C Vijayabaskar, DGP TK Rajendran, retired DGP S George and former dairy minister BV Ramanna, in various locations.
