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Joharis' arrest to lead to bigger exposures

Sharat Pradhan in Lucknow

The arrest of the Johari brothers, who had been eluding the police ever since their exposure in the multi-million-rupee Century Consultants scam, is likely to lead to big exposures.

Central Bureau of Investigation sources in Lucknow are of the view that the interrogation of the Century Consultants owners, Arvind Johari and Anand Johari, is bound to give clues to the involvement of many big guns.

The brothers, who allegedly duped investors to the tune of about Rs 4 billion, were arrested by the CBI in Kalimpong, near Darjeeling, on Tuesday night.

While their arrest has pleased thousands of small investors, who had pumped in their savings into the company, the benami investors and close associates of the Joharis are a worried lot.

Some of the associates, who have been pleading that they had snapped ties with the Joharis, appear to be quite jittery. These include the promoters of Kamal Infosys, the City Co-operative Bank and a few other such companies floated directly by the Joharis or with their assistance.

Even Century chief executive officer Pradeep Narain, who has turned approver claiming total ignorance about the Joharis' plans, may find himself in a soup, the sources said.

Among those worried are some senior politicians and bureaucrats of Uttar Pradesh. The sources said three ministers of the Rajnath Singh government, some top-ranking police officers and several IAS officers had found in Century a convenient conduit to pump in their ill-gotten wealth through benami transactions.

These influential persons are believed to have influenced the Lucknow police to 'go slow' with the initial investigations in the case. Some of them are also believed to have used their clout to delay the transfer of the case to the CBI.

It was only after much pressure by ordinary investors, who even met Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, that the case was eventually entrusted to the country's premier investigative agency.

The 'real' names of all the investors are believed to be recorded on computer floppies and disks by the Joharis, who ferreted them away when they gave everyone the slip in March.

But with the Joharis under arrest now, these names are likely to come out, the sources said.

The CBI plans to ensure tight security for the Johari brothers, who will be brought to Lucknow by the weekend.

"It is not only the fear that they might get lynched by angry investors who had been duped, but also because they could be the target of those who may be exposed during investigations," police sources said.

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