M A I N   N E W S

Jogi chargesheeted
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 7
A day after the Election Commission announced dates for Assembly polls in Chhattisgarh, the CBI today filed a chargesheet against state Chief Minister Ajit Jogi charging him with ‘deliberately’ using ‘forged’ documents to claim that the Intelligence Bureau (IB) had launched a special operation targeting him just before the elections.

In the chargesheet, filed before the special CBI judge in Karkardooma court here this morning, the CBI slapped forgery and cheating charges against Mr Jogi under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the agency sources said.

The CBI alleged that Mr Jogi had deliberately used forged documents to tarnish the image of the IB.

This was a deliberate attempt to tarnish the image of a ‘reputed’ important office of the government with the help of forged documents and also with ‘malafide intentions’ to cheat public by spreading the lie, the chargesheet said.

It may be recalled that Mr Jogi at a press conference here in March this year, had alleged that the IB’s Special Directorate had launched an operation code-named ‘Black Sea’ to target Opposition leaders, including Congress men like him, in the run-up to the elections in Congress-ruled states and circulated the ‘purported’ documents to the media.

He also had sent the copies of the documents to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee seeking probe into the matter.

The Intelligence Bureau had denied having ever launched any such operation.

Although Mr Jogi had demanded an inquiry by a Joint Parliamentary Committee into his allegations, Mr Vajpayee promptly ordered a CBI probe, following which on April 2, the CBI registered a case of forgery and cheating against the Chief Minister.

The CBI had questioned Mr Jogi on June 17 in connection with the case in the presence of two officials, who were understood to be close to him. The entire questioning was videographed by the investigating agency, CBI sources said.

The CBI had also questioned the staff of the Chief Minister’s secretariat, who used to handle Mr Jogi’s daily ‘Dak’.

The CBI had also registered a case under Sections 417, 465, 468, 469 and 471 of the IPC against unknown persons after receiving the complaints.

The forged documents alleged that Mr Jogi’s wife Renu had signed a memorandum of understanding with a Malaysian company with 50 per cent share. The company has a software development unit in Bangalore.

It also alleged that Mr Jogi had a joint account with his wife in a Swiss bank and accused him of having amassed money and property since he became the Chief Minister.