CWG scam: Kalmadi aide appears before CBI, may turn approver

A close aide of sacked CWG Organising Committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi appeared before the Central Bureau of Investigation on directions of the court.

"I have come to the CBI on directions of the Court. I am answering every questions being posed to me," Sanjay Mahendroo, Kalmadi's aide, told PTI. Asked if he is willing to turn an approver, Mahendroo said, "Then also (if he turns an approver) I will say the same things that I telling the CBI now. I am extending all help from my side in CBI investigation." A Delhi court had on Januray 25 directed Mahendroo to appear before the CBI on January 27 in the probe in an alleged cheating case relating to the mega sporting event.

Special Judge Talwant Singh had disposed of an application of Mahendroo, deputy director general in CWG OC, who had expressed his willingness to surrender in the case. The court had also directed the probe agency not to stretch his questioning beyond seven hours and also asked it to allow the presence of his lawyer during such session. Mahendroo, who was arrested on November 15 last year in another case, has been granted bail by the court. The CBI, in its reply, submitted before the court that it did not require the custody of Mahendroo. However, it said that he could cooperate with the probe agency under Section 160 (power of police to summon witnesses) of the Criminal Procedure Code.

In the application filed through his counsel, Mahendroo had submitted he was ready to cooperate with CBI as and when desired by it in the probe into the case involving London-based A M Films. The CBI has named London-based Ashish Patel, Mahendroo and another official T S Darbari and others under sections 420 (cheating), 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act. The accused are also facing charges of violation of Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) and have been questioned by the Enforcement Directorate.

Mahendroo, arrested on November 15 for his alleged role in financial bunglings in holding the Queen Baton's Relay in London in 2009 in the run up to the Games, was granted bail by the court after CBI failed to file chargesheet against him within stipulated 60 days.