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Fifth CBI witness in JMM bribery case turns hostile

Another key witness of the Central Bureau of Investigation in the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha MPs' bribery case against former prime minister P V Narasimha Rao and 19 others turned hostile today.

Dwarkanath, who was accounts officer in Karnataka Breweries and Distilleries Private Limited, owned by one of the accused, D K Adikeshavalu, told the trial court in Delhi that he had never told the CBI that he had withdrawn Rs 3 million from the bank at his employer's instance on July 30, 1993.

According to the CBI, this Rs 3 million was part of the money which was paid as bribe to opposition MPs who voted against the no-confidence motion against the Narasimha Rao government on July 28, 1993.

With this, five prosecution witnesses have turned hostile. The others are journalists Devender Mukhia and B S Nandwal, advocate Virender Singh -- all of whom were allegedly close to former Haryana chief minister Bhajan Lal -- and Captain Dilawar Singh, then secretary to former Union minister Ajit Singh. Both Bhajan Lal and Ajit Singh are accused in the case.

Dwarkanath told Additional Sessions Judge Ajit Bharihoke that he had, in fact, sent a registered letter to Joginder Singh, then CBI director, denying having withdrawn Rs 3 million after leading newspapers in Bangalore published on December 16, 1996, his purported statement to the agency that he had personally gone to the bank to encash the cheque.

"After going through the news item I was shocked and surprised about the reference to my going to the bank and withdrawing cash," he told the court during his cross-examination by Adikeshavalu's counsel, C V Nagesh.

He said he also immediately filed an affidavit with the CBI court in Bangalore, denying that he had made such a statement to the bureau, and sent a copy to the CBI.

The witness submitted the postal acknowledgements of his letter to the CBI director and a copy of the affidavit to the court to substantiate his statement.

There was no response from the CBI either to his letter to Joginder Singh or to his affidavit, he said.

The hearing in the case continues tomorrow.

The others accused in the case include former Karnataka chief minister M Veerappa Moily and former Union ministers Buta Singh and Satish Sharma.

UNI

Related Story:
Centre seeks review of SC verdict in JMM case

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