M A I N   N E W S

Man named in Judeo FIR arrested under Wildlife, Arms Acts

New Delhi, December 22
Delhi Police today arrested Rohit Prasad, who was allegedly involved in the former Union Minister Dilip Singh Judeo “Cash-on-camera bribery scandal’’, on charges of possessing five elephant tusk trophies, one leopard skin and some fire arms.

During the nation-wide raids by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) yesterday, the sleuths found that accused Rohit had allegedly kept the contraband in a house in the upmarket Aurangzeb Road in the capital.

The CBI handed over the accused to the Police for further investigation.

After preliminary interrogation, Rohit was produced before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Manoj Jain and Metropolitan Magistrate Sanjeev Jain on charges under various sections of the Wildlife Act and the Arms Act respectively.

However, the judges refused to grant police custody and remanded him in judicial custody for 14 days.

Counsel Jayant Sud, appearing for the accused, argued that Prasad was only a caretaker of the flat, which was leased to Tanya Creations by the owners Kolkata-based Prithvi Private Ltd.

He further contended that the arms were replica of vintage models of firearms.

The police, however, said that the seized items were covered under the Arms Act.

Prasad has been named in the FIR registered by the CBI against Judeo, his former Assistant Private Secretary Natwar Rataria, alleged bribe giver Bhupendra Singh Patel alias ‘Rahul’ and Arvind Vijay Mohan, who had arranged for filming the entire video in a five star hotel on November 5, this year.

According to the CBI, accused Prasad was allegedly in touch with Mohan for the past several months for the video shooting.

Prasad is the elder brother of Rajat, the managing director of Akash Channels, who introduced Patel alias Rahul to Judeo.

The CBI today denied it has arrested Rahul, the man who was shown handing over a wad of currency to Dilip Singh Judeo in the cash-on-camera scam.

“There has been no arrest so far,’’ CBI sources said. Media reports had said Rahul, who has been identified as Bhupendra Singh Patel, was picked up from his native village in Hoshangabad district of Madhya Pradesh yesterday.

CBI sources told UNI that agency sleuths were looking for Rahul after establishing his identity. The investigating agency has registered a First Information Report against Judeo and his former assistant private secretary Natwar Rataria.

The FIR also names Rahul, who allegedly gave the Rs 9,00,000 bribe, and Arvind Vijay Mohan, a Delhi-based businessman who arranged the filming of the entire episode in a five star hotel room here on November 5, 2003.

The CBI seized “incriminating documents’’ during extensive raids carried out yesterday in four states against former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Ajit Jogi in connection with the case.

The raids were conducted at 17 places in four states - Delhi, Haryana, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh — to find out if Jogi and his son Amit were involved in the scandal to defame Judeo, CBI sources said.

The raids were conducted at the residential and official premises of the accused and other persons including the functionaries of Raipur-based Akash Channels allegedly involved in the episode at Delhi, Gurgaon, Raipur, Raigarh, Jashpur in Hoshangabad, Bhopal and Bhilai.

The residential premises of Amit and those of Patel alias Rahul at Jashpur, Dhikavada in Hoshangabad in Madhya Pradesh were also raided.

CBI sources said the investigation so far revealed that posing as Rahul, the representative of an Australian mining firm, Patel had given Judeo Rs 9,00,000 for purportedly obtaining mining contracts in Chhattisgarh and Orissa.

No arrests have been made so far in connection with the case. — UNI