The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : CBI `shadowed' insurance official before arrest

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jul 05, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

CBI `shadowed' insurance official before arrest

By S. Vijay Kumar

MADURAI, JULY 4. The Life Insurance Corporation of India official, Ramaswami Sadhu, was "shadowed" by the Central Bureau of Investigation for more than a month before he was finally arrested in connection with the multi-crore fake stamp paper scam.

An Administrative Officer and a faculty member of the LIC's Madurai Divisional Training Centre, Mr. Sadhu was placed under suspension today. "We have received communication from the zonal office confirming his suspension," a senior LIC official told The Hindu.

A CBI special team on May 25 picked up Mr. Sadhu from his office here for interrogation.

He was grilled for several hours before being flown to the CBI headquarters in New Delhi.

He was allowed to stay in the LIC's VIP Guest House in New Delhi and "allowed to go" after a daylong questioning. On return to Madurai, Mr. Sadhu said the CBI had sought his "assistance" in the case.

However, official sources said the CBI kept a close watch on the movements of Mr. Sadhu after his release.

Though he faces charges of being a conduit facilitating the supply of fake stamp papers worth several crores, his bank balance and lockers hardly showed any indication of large-scale transactions. Searches at his Tirunagar residence and office were not of much use to the investigators.

Mr. Sadhu is the secretary (vigilance wing) of the All-India LIC Class-I Officers' Association.

The LIC official went to Chennai on two occasions claiming that the CBI had summoned him for enquiry.

Early this week also, he applied for leave on the same grounds and went to Chennai, where he was arrested.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu