Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal-run 'spy unit' under CBI lens

New Delhi: A clandestine group, which is operating directly under Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, has come under the radar of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for dubious financial transactions.

The Vigilance Department of the Delhi government has given shocking details of the functioning of the 'Feedback Unit' to the CBI.

The Feedback Unit was allotted a secret service fund of Rs 1 crore, but it spent only Rs 50,000 on a sting operation.

“Fifty thousand rupees were spent to trap a bribery complaint in a school named Kalka Public School, Alaknanda,” documents accessed by DNA reveal.

The amount was given to Kailash Chand, Upper Division Clerk in the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB).

However, the Vigilance Department was left completely baffled when it came to know that there was no person named Kailash Chand in the ACB.

The daily quoted sources as saying that retired officers of Intelligence Bureau, Research and Analysis Wing, Income-Tax Department and other investigating agencies comprised the Feedback Unit.

The officials were not only given high-end vehicles but also unaccounted money to carry out their clandestine activities.

“A car, two SUVs and three bikes were provided to the unit, along with supporting staff of four data entry operators hired through the Intelligent Communication Systems India Limited by the Delhi government,” the Vigilance Department letter to the CBI read.

The Feedback Unit staff were paid the remuneration on the basis of attendance.

Notably, the staff have recorded 100 percent attendance and Rs 40,82,982 has been disbursed since February 2016 by way of various expenses.

However, the Vigilance Department, under which the Unit was formed, is neither aware of the staff nor what work they did.

“Since inception, no report or outcome of the work done by the unit has come to the knowledge of the Directorate of Vigilance. Clearly, the functioning of the unit has been secretive to the department,” the document said.

In the letter, the Vigilance Department letter told the CBI: “In the Budget for the financial year 2016-2017, Rs 1 crore was kept for secret service expenditure. It was proposed by Deputy Director (Feedback) to provide Rs 20 lakh as a secret fund to the unit during the current financial year. From the budget, Rs 10 lakh was released in two tranches for Rs 5,00,000 each. Out of the Rs 10 lakh, Rs 5.5 lakh has been reportedly spent on espionage work. The last expenditure from the fund was an amount of Rs 50,000, which has been stated to be given to Kailash Chand. The details of utilisation of Rs 5.5 lakh from the secret service expenditure are not available, except to the extent of Rs 50,000 as mentioned above.”

The documents added that although the “unit was under the Vigilance Secretary but it is functioning under the direct control of the Chief Minister's Office”.

The CBI had in January registered a preliminary enquiry to look into the setting up of a special unit under Directorate of Vigilance by the Delhi government without necessary approvals from the Lt Governor.

The sources had said that about 20 people were allegedly employed in the division for which the Delhi Cabinet had cleared the decision in September last year without consulting the office of LG.

The CBI had later raided the Vigilance Department office at Delhi Secretariat.

The unit was allegedly created to "gather relevant information and actionable feedback" about officials and departments under the Delhi government.

It was also tasked to do trap cases to catch bureaucrats taking bribe red handed.