: The Central Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday said the Deputy General Manager of the Handicrafts & Handloom Export Corporation of India, who along with a Delhi Police inspector has been arrested on graft charges, was the Officer on Special Duty of the then Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat.
According to the agency, accused Ashutosh Kumar Singh was Mr. Rawat’s OSD from March 2014 to October 2015. However, he was found possessing an identity card of the post shown to be valid till June 2016. “Investigations are under way to ascertain whether a disproportionate assets case can be made out against him under the Prevention of Corruption Act,” said a CBI official.
The CBI also seized from him a high-security identity card showing him as a Joint Secretary in the Union Home Ministry. The agency will contact the Ministry officials concerned seeking corroboration of facts. “It is a forged identity card,” said the official.
The CBI has so far seized about Rs.1.9 crore in cash and documents pertaining to 10 assets worth over Rs.9 crore, including four flats and a bungalow in Mumbai and one flat in Noida.
Mr. Ashutosh Singh was arrested for giving Rs.3 lakh in bribe to Inspector Kehar Singh for hushing up a complaint of cheating worth Rs.1 crore against him. The accused inspector was investigating the case.
Accused Ashutosh Kumar Singh was Mr. Rawat’s OSD from March 2014 to October 2015
