The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday arrested five persons in Chennai — three partners of the firm manufacturing the MDM brand of gutkha, and two government officials — in the sensational case, in which Health Minister C. Vijaya Baskar and DGP T.K. Rajendran have been arraigned as accused.
The arrests came a day after the agency conducted simultaneous searches at 35 locations in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Puducherry, including the residences of the Health Minister, the DGP and former Chennai Police Commissioner S. George.
A special team of the CBI’s Anti-Corruption-III Unit, New Delhi, arrested three promoters of Jayam industries A.V. Madhava Rao, Uma Shankar Gupta and Srinivas Rao, Food Safety Department official Senthil Murugan and Central Excise Superintendent N.K. Pandyan. The accused were produced in a court and remanded in judicial custody till September 20.
Though the case was registered in Delhi, the accused were produced in a city court since the crime allegedly took place in Chennai.
CBI to file plea
The CBI is expected to file a petition in the designated court seeking custodial interrogation of the accused soon.
Mr. Madhava Rao is believed to be the main partner of the MDM brand gutkha business, and he had earlier appeared before the Income Tax Department, the Directorate General of Vigilance (Customs and Central Excise) and the Enforcement Directorate in the case.
With the CBI arresting the five, three partners of the gutkha firm and two officials who allegedly received bribes from them, pressure is mounting on the other accused, who are facing the same charges.
“The evidence is more or less the same for all. First, the book of accounts in which the designation of the official and the dates on which the money was paid and then the statements given by the partners and middlemen who delivered the bribes,” a police officer said.
The evidence would also be corroborated with technical evidence, money trail etc. “The FIR cited unknown Central and State officials among others as accused. It is possible that someone received money on behalf of an officer and did not pass it on to him or simply used his/her name to make money...it is easy to fix such suspects based on the statement of the middlemen who handed over the money,” the officer said.