CBI grills Jayaswal for 8 hrs, Bagrodia may be next
The CBI on Monday questioned AMR Iron & Steel Private Limited director Arvind Jayaswal for allegedly misrepresenting and concealing facts to get the Bander coal block in Maharashtra.
The CBI on Monday questioned AMR Iron & Steel Private Limited director Arvind Jayaswal for allegedly misrepresenting and concealing facts to get the Bander coal block in Maharashtra.
Jayaswal, who arrived at the agency's headquarters at 11am, was questioned for around eight hours. He was quizzed on his firm's representatives' alleged meeting with then minister of state for coal Santosh Bagrodia on September 18, 2008, said a CBI source.
Ten days later, the firm allegedly confessed to the misrepresentations in a letter to the minister.
Jayaswal was also shown several documents related to his firm's application for the allocation of the Bander coal block by his CBI interrogators.
"The CBI will seek clarification from Bagrodia regarding the allegations against him," said the source. Bagrodia is a former minister and RS member.
After Jayaswal, the CBI will grill three other directors of the erring firm— his brother and mining baron Manoj Jayaswal, Ramesh Jayaswal and Devendra Darda. The four were booked along with coal officials for alleged criminal conspiracy, cheating and abuse of office.
After the AMR directors, the agency will also grill directors of the four other firms — JLD Yavatmal Energy Limited, Navbharat Power Private Limited, Vini Iron & Steel Udyog Limited and JAS Infrastructure Capital Private Ltd. All the companies were booked by the CBI along with AMR for alleged misrepresentation to acquire coal blocks.