CBI grills Himachal CM over family assets

NEW DELHI: Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh refused to give details about his wife and children’s wealth during a seven-hour Central Bureau of Investigation

NEW DELHI: Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh refused to give details about his wife and children’s wealth during a seven-hour Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) interrogation in a disproportionate assets case on Thursday.

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“When asked about the assets in the name of his children and wife, Singh said it is up to them to explain,” a source said.

“Singh was examined by the CBI today in the disproportionate assets case and he also gave no explanation when confronted with evidence against him,” said a CBI source. “The CBI has a fool-proof case against him and his associates and partners in the criminal conspiracy regarding assets acquired in the name of his children and wife,” said the source.

Singh was questioned over alleged irregularities, including those linked to an antedated agreement associated with his apple orchard.

The investigation agency will examine Singh again on Friday and others named in the case first information report, including his wife and two others, soon.

The agency’s probe has been investigating the chief minister and his wife since last September over allegations related to amassing of disproportionate assets worth Rs 6 crore during his 2009-12 stint as a steel minister in the UPA II government. Apart from Singh, the CBI is examining his then aide, insurance agent Anand Chauhan and businessman Chunni Chauhan, for allegedly trying to ‘camouflage’ the money as proceeds of agricultural income – not taxed in India – from Singh’s 105 bigha apple orchard ‘Shrikhand’, located in the state.