Central Bureau of Investigation has summoned Congress MP Karti Chidambaram to join the probe in connection with a fresh case lodged against him and others for allegedly helping Chinese nationals getting visas by flouting rules. He has been summoned to appear before the probe agency at 11 AM today at CBI headquarters in New Delhi.
Karti's Charted Accountant S. Bhaskararaman is currently on custodial remand of the CBI and there are possibilities that Karti might be confronted with him. The CBI has recovered 65,000 emails in the matter, which will be used as evidence.
According to the FIR, a Mansa (Punjab) based private firm, Talwandi Sabo
Power Limited, took help of a middleman and allegedly paid 50 lakh rupees to get the visa issued for Chinese nationals, so that the firm completes a project before the deadline. The private firm was in the process of establishing a 1,980 MW thermal power plant the work for which was outsourced to a Chinese company.
The project was running behind its schedule. In order to avoid penal actions for the delay, the said private company was trying to bring more and more Chinese professionals to its site for which it needed project visas over and above the ceiling imposed by the Ministry of Home Affairs, CBI said.