CBI’s probe against top DDA official gets stuck in lockers

The CBI’s ongoing probe into the alleged disproportionate assets of a top DDA official, Manoj Kumar Agrawal, has hit a hurdle because of its inability to scour two of his bank lockers.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)’s ongoing probe into the alleged disproportionate assets of a top Delhi Development Authority (DDA) official, Manoj Kumar Agrawal, has hit a hurdle because of its inability to scour two of his bank lockers.

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The CBI, which last Thursday had lodged a First Information Report against Agrawal for allegedly possessing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income, does not have keys to two of his bank lockers.

The keys provided to the CBI by the officer’s family allegedly failed to open the two lockers, said an agency investigator who requested anonymity as he is not authorised to talk.

Confirming this, the agency’s acting spokesperson press information officer R.K. Gaur said: “The keys we got from the accused were not of the two lockers.” He added, “We hope our team gets the right keys.”

Three other bank lockers allegedly held by Agrawal did not yield much apparently. “There was hardly any cash inside the three lockers, there were just some coins,” said another investigator.

Agrawal, an Indian Administrative Service officer, was personal secretary to former information and broadcasting minister Priya Ranjan Das Munshi in his earlier stint.

Investigators have till now recovered movable and immovable assets worth several crores of rupees, including Rs 2.75 lakh in cash, Rs 50 lakh as fixed deposits in multiple bank accounts, and ownership documents (in his and family members' names) of eight plots.

The CBI had raided eight official and residential premises of Agrawal, including four in Delhi, two in Ghaziabad and two in Mathura.