CBI grills diplomat Rakesh Kumar
New
Delhi: Senior diplomat Rakesh Kumar, who has been facing charges of
human trafficking, appeared before the Central Bureau of Investigation
(CBI) here on Thursday. According to the CBI officials, Kumar had contacted
the agency on Wednesday and today he appeared before sleuths of the Special
Crime unit. Kumar was questioned about his role in a case of human trafficking
to Germany in which nine members of a dance troupe was found missing,
said sources. On Tuesday, Rakesh Kumar had been divested of his charge
as Special Secretary (Economic Relations) in External Affairs Ministry.
Earlier, a CBI team had visited residence of Rakesh Kumar in South Delhi
to serve a notice on him. But his relatives told them that Kumar has gone
to Rishikesh to "recuperate". Kumar, who had prolonged his stay in Germany
for nearly a fortnight citing illness and hospitalisation, had postponed
his return on three occasions before finally returning from Munich on
April 14. The CBI had served a notice to the Ministry of External Affairs
(MEA) on April 11 under Section 160 of Criminal Procedure Code, asking
it to direct Kumar to make himself available before the agency for questioning.
In the 'Preliminary Enquiry' conducted in the case, prima facie evidence
was found against Kumar. Following this, the agency named Kumar and three
other in an FIR. Kumar, a 1972 batch IFS officer, faces allegations of
criminal conspiracy, cheating and forgery, in a CBI case pertaining to
trafficking of nine individuals to Berlin during his tenure as Director
General of Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) in September last
year. The CBI has registered a case against Kumar, Kehkeshan Tyagi (Programme
Officer) and Har Gulab Singh and Shiv Kumar Sharma in a case relating
to sending 15-member Punjabi folk troupe "Mehak Punjab Di" to Berlin in
September 2005. The CBI had carried out raids at six places in Delhi,
Chandigarh and Ludhiana, including Kumar's residence on March 29. The
CBI had put the figure of cash recovered from Kumars residence at around
Rs four lakhs (about 8865 dollars) and had claimed to have recovered documents
relevant to the case. It is alleged that the accused sent people to Berlin
along with a dance troupe. On arrival, these people disappeared and later
filed applications for political asylum under changed names. CBI claimed
that Kumar, during his tenure as Director General of ICCR, and Tyagi had
entered into a criminal conspiracy with Singh and Sharma to facilitate
illegal trafficking of nine individuals to Berlin.
- April 20, 2006
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