NEW DELHI/CHENNAI: Moving ahead in its probe into the alleged Chinese Visa scam, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday carried out searches at the premises of former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, which it had sealed earlier, sources said.
A CBI source told The New Indian, “A team of CBI officers are at the premises of Chidambaram in Chennai. The house was sealed earlier as the locks of the house required finger scan of Nalini Chidambaram.”
The source said that today Nalini Chidambaram came back and the residence, located at No.16, Pycrofts Garden Road, Nungambakkam, Chennai, was opened. “Thus the team of the CBI carried out searches today,” the source added.
The fresh case was registered by the federal investigative agency alleging that Karti received a bribe of Rs 50 lakh for facilitating the visas of over 263 Chinese nationals for the Talwandi Sabo Power Plant in Punjab’s Mansa from 2010 to 2014 when P Chidambaram was holding the portfolio of Union minister of home affairs.
Besides Karti, the CBI has named his close associate S Bhaskararaman, Mansa-based private company’s representative Vikas Makharia, Talwandi Sabo Power Limited, Bell Tools Limited and unknown public servants and private persons.
CBI had said that Talwandi Sabo Power Plant was in the process of establishing a 1980 MW Thermal Power plant at Mansa in Punjab.
The official said that the establishment was outsourced to a Chinese Company called Shandong Electric Power Construction Corp (SEPCO).
“The project was running behind schedule so in order to avoid penal action for the delay Talwandi Sabo Power Limited was trying to bring more and more Chinese professionals at the site,” the source said, adding that this needed project visas over and above the ceiling imposed by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
“So, the company approached Karti Chidambaram through his close associates and they devised a back door way to defeat the purpose of the Visa ceiling by granting permission to re-use 263 project Visas allotted to the Chinese company’s officials,” the official had said.
The permission for this devious Visa grant to Chinese professionals was approved by Home Ministry in the same month of application, the official had said
He further alleged that payment of crores was made to Karti through a false invoice by a company which made industrial knives citing consultancy services and visa-related work.
The CBI is already probing P Chidambaram and his son in other cases too. Karti and P Chidambaram were earlier arrested in the case.