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CBI questions Himachal CM in graft case
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 26
The Central Bureau of Investigation has questioned Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh in an alleged payoff case of Rs 2.8 crore received from a Mumbai-based steel company.

The CBI sources said Virbhadra was questioned over two days. A preliminary enquiry report was registered in the case in October and he was asked yesterday to present himself for questioning. He was questioned for a few hours at the CBI guest house in Delhi.

The sources refused to give details about the mode of questioning, saying everything had been taken on record. “It is a matter of investigation and the questioning cannot be disclosed at this juncture,” a source said.

The preliminary enquiry was registered on the basis of a complaint submitted by the State Trading Corporation (STC). AAP leader Prashant Bhushan also wrote to the CBI Director and approached Delhi HC seeking a probe.

Payoff charge

• The CBI had registered a preliminary enquiry on the complaint of the State Trading Corporation and started a probe last October
• It was alleged that Himachal CM Virbhadra Singh (pic) as Steel Minister had received payoffs of Rs 2.8 crore from a Mumbai-based steel company