CWG Scam: CBI arrests OC official, supplier

NEW DELHI: The CBI today arrested Additional Director General of CWG Organising Committee K U K Reddy and supplier Praveen Bakshi in connection with the overlays supply case.

The premises of Reddy, ADG-Finance, and Bakshi, a former IAF group captain, were searched by the agency on February 18 along with that of five other CWG organising committee officials and suppliers in connection with the multi-crore overlays scam.

The searches, spread across the National Capital Region, were conducted at the seven premises of R P Gupta, K U K Reddy, A K Saxena, Surjeet Lal and Nukesh Jain, who were officials in the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee, sources said.

The teams of investigators searched for documents related to overlays supply for the Games and relevant documents related to the conduct of the mega sporting event, they said.

The CBI had earlier arrested Deorukhkar Shekhar, a close aide of former OC Chairman Suresh Kalmadi in connection with the same case.

Nearly Rs 600 crore worth of contracts relating to the overlays project are under scanner for alleged irregularities.

Overlays works included supply of tents, marquees, prefabricated units, portable toilets, containers, security fences, furniture, public display LED boards, floor finishes, material handling equipment, gensets, cabling, UPS, air-conditioners, lighting, civil construction, athletic exercise equipment and grandstands.

The agency had conducted a number of searches in certain premises across the country in early January in connection with the scam, including those of an officer under Union Sports Ministry.

The overlays contracts are also under the scanner of the Income Tax Department and the Enforcement Directorate.

The CBI had earlier registered three FIRs for alleged corruption in the projects and events in the run up to the sporting extravaganza.

Two of these cases were in connection with alleged irregularities in the Queen's Baton Relay.