Railgate: BJP protests against Chandigarh`s top CBI officer

Chandigarh: At least 10 BJP activists were injured today after police used water cannons to stop them from marching towards CBI office here to protest against a top agency officer whom they accused of shielding former Union Minister Pawan Bansal in the railgate scam. Several local party workers, led by BJP leader Harmohan Dhawan, protested against Chandigarh`s CBI deputy inspector general Mahesh Aggarwal here alleging that he had close family links with Bansal and had shielded the former railway minister after the arrest of his nephew in a multi-crore graft case. The protesters tried to take their march towards the local CBI office but were stopped by police, following which the BJP activists tried to break the barricades. Police then used water canons to disperse the BJP activists, in which at least ten of them, including a woman, received minor injuries, sources said.

"Our`s was a peaceful protest...Without provocation police used water cannons against us," Dhawan said. Dhawan claimed that a CBI officer had submitted an affidavit before the Central Administrative Tribunal on May 15 against Aggarwal alleging that he had tried to influence the investigation in two cases involving relatives of Bansal. Demanding Aggarwal`s immediate suspension and a high-level probe against him, Dhawan also alleged that the CBI officer had leaked the information on Delhi CBI team`s raid at Bansal`s nephew Vijay Singla`s house on May 3 in connection with the railway scandal. Aggarwal, a 1994 batch Tamil Nadu cadre IPS officer, came to Chandigarh as a superintendent of police in 2006 and was later promoted to DIG rank. PTI