The CBI has raided the house of former union minister P Chidambaram and his son, Karti Chidambaram, in Chennai on Tuesday. The federal probe agency has also raided at least a dozen odd places since Tuesday morning.
According to an NDTV report, the raids are linked with the allegation that Karti Chidambaram’s company facilitated clearances for foreign investment to a media company in 2008 for kickbacks.
News agency ANI also flashed the photos of the searches being conducted by the CBI.
CBI raid at former union minister P Chidambaram's residence in Chennai pic.twitter.com/1oGxTjVDXF
— ANI (@ANI) May 16, 2017
Chidambaram was also the finance minister during Manmohan Singh government.
The Congress party has slammed the Narendra Modi government for carrying out systemic vendetta politics against its political rivals.
“The attempt is to grab headlines and create a perception. Why no action for three years?” said Congress spokesperson Tom Vadakkan.
Official sources in Delhi said the searches were spread across Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, and Gurugram.
The raids are also taking place at the Nungambakkam residence of P Chidambaram in Chennai, a senior police official said in Chennai.
Unconfirmed reports said the raids were also on at Karaikudi, the hometown of Chidambaram.
The agency had recently registered a case regarding Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance given to a company in which it is alleged that favours were given when P Chidambaram was the finance minister.
Asked about the raids, the former union minister said, “You should have called your CBI friends…….Should I stop writing ? (against the government).”
“I mean…(this is) absolute nonsense,” Chidambaram told PTI adding he was not in Chennai.
Chidambaram, a staunch critic of the Narendra Modi-led BJP regime, has said in the past that his voice against the Centre cannot be silenced by launching cases against him or his son Karti, also a Congress leader.
According to reports, one of the charges against Karti Chidambaram’s company is that it received Rs. 35 lakh from INX Media after it got an Foreign Exchange Promotion Board clearance for four crores. However, the company allegedly received Rs. 305 crores.
INX Media was then owned by Peter Mukerjea, who’s currently facing charges of murder in Sheena Bora case a.long with his wife Indrani Mukerjea.