Amid row, CBI interim director clarifies on loans taken by wife, property purchase

Rao said the details of all the properties owned by him and his family have been submitted in his annual property returns to the government.

New Delhi: Amid an ongoing row involving the top bosses of the Central Bureau of Investigation, the intelligence agency's Interim Chief Dir Nageshwar Rao has on Tuesday come up with a clarification on transactions in connection with the borrowing of funds by his wife, property purchase and sale of inherited agricultural property. He added that the details of properties owned by him and his family have been submitted in his Annual Property Returns.

"In 2010, my wife Smt. Mannem Sandhya took a loan of Rs.25 lakhs from M/s Angela Mercantile Pvt. Ltd., owned by Shri Praween Agarwal, a long time family friend. This sum was used in joint purchase of a property in Guntur, A.P. Snit. Mannem Sandhya later in the year 2011 sold her ancestral agricultural land of 11-17 acres for a sum of Rs,58,62 lakhs and transferred it to M/s Angela Mercantile Pvt. Ltd. which after deducting the loan amount of Rs.25 lakhs, and adding interest, a sum of Rs.41,33,1651- was returned to Snit Mannem Sandhya in July, 2014. Due intimations were given to competent authorities immediately," Rao said. 

Claiming all other reports incorrect and untrue, he said that the details of all the properties owned by him and his family have been submitted in his annual property returns to the government for all years. Also, these are available for download on the Ministry of Home Affairs' website.

In an unprecedented development, the Prime Minister-led Appointments Committee appointed M Nageshwar Rao as the interim head of the investigative agency and sent the top three agency bosses - CBI Director Alok Verma, Special Director Rakesh Asthana and Additional Director AK Sharma - on leave. Several top CBI officers investigating sensitive cases were also transferred.

Earlier this month, an FIR against Asthana and Deputy Superintendent of Police Devender Kumar, who is in the CBI custody in an alleged bribery case, was registered. The FIR was lodged on a written complaint of Satish Babu Sana on October 15. It alleged that Kumar, the IO in a case, was repeatedly calling him to the CBI office to harass and compel him to pay a bribe of Rs 5 crore for giving him a clean chit.

Asthana and Kumar both challenged the FIR in the Delhi High Court, which later ordered CBI to maintain status quo on the criminal proceedings against Asthana.