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This story is from March 26, 2015

Congress flaunts diary to link Raman Singh and kin to rice scam

Congress on Wednesday made public parts of the diary recovered from an accused in Chhattisgarh rice scam which mentions chief minister Raman Singh, his wife and sister-in-law among others as beneficiaries of kickbacks.
Congress flaunts diary to link Raman Singh and kin to rice scam
NEW DELHI: Congress on Wednesday made public parts of the diary recovered from an accused in Chhattisgarh rice scam which mentions chief minister Raman Singh, his wife and sister-in-law among others as beneficiaries of kickbacks. The party demanded a judicial probe into the multi-crore-rupee scandal.
Coming on the back of Congress upping the ante on ‘Vyapam scam’ in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh, AICC spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said, “It is an amazing web of nepotism, stretching from MP to Chhattisgarh to other parts of India -- examples of which have been seen earlier in Gujarat.
All of them make a mockery of the Prime Minister’s wonderful speeches and exhortations on corruption or anti-corruption.”
Singhvi said the silence of PM Modi on Raman Singh was eloquent. Asked if the party would meet the PM over rice scam like it had done on ‘Vyapam scam’ last week, Singhvi denied the possibility saying Congress felt it was a pointless exercise and would instead petition the President.
The anti-corruption bureau of the Chhattisgarh recently raided 36 offices of state civil supplies corporation and recovered over Rs 3 crore. The raids on Shiv Shankar Bhatt, a key figure in the corporation’s head office, resulting in seizure of Rs 1.50 crore and a sensational diary allegedly containing entries of illegal payoffs with dates and place of payments.
The entries in the diary mention CM Raman Singh, his wife Veena Singh, his sister-in-law Renuka Singh, his in-laws, cook, courier, three state ministers, and some bureaucrats close to him.
“In the garb of Re 1/kg rice, Chhattigarh government created a well-oiled corruption machine in connivance with rice mill owners, PDS shop-owners and public officials…. The magnitude of scam can be judged from the fact that during the last 11 years of BJP rule in state, the money spent on supply of PDS items comes to around Rs 1,50,000 crore,” said Singhvi, flanked by state party chief Bhupesh Baghel and leader of opposition in assembly TS Singh Deo.
Singhvi said Congress pressure had resulted in minuscule nature of action on a dozen lowly-placed officials.
Backing its demand for judicial probe, Congress showed an interview by additional director general of police in-charge of anti-corruption Mukesh Gupta. The top official told a TV channel that his department had its limitations and since the scam ran into thousands of crores of rupees and extended to the highest echelons of the state, it was not possible for him to investigate.
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