On May 17, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested Karti Chidambaram’s auditor S Bhaskar Raman in connection with the bribe-for-visa case. The development was reported a day after raids were conducted by the investigation agency at Chidambaram’s residence and other locations linked to the Congress leader and Sivaganga MP.
CBI has arrested S Bhaskar Raman, a close associate of Congress leader Karti P Chidambaram in an ongoing visa corruption case following questioning late last night: CBI sources
— ANI (@ANI) May 18, 2022
CBI has listed Karti Chidambaram, S Bhaskar Raman, Mansa and Vikas of Talwandi and Bell Tools Limited as accused in the case. As per reports, Chidambaram has been accused of accepting bribes in exchange for visas for over 250 Chinese nationals to work at Talwandi Sabo (a subsidiary of Vedanta Group) Power Plant located in Punjab.
Vedanta Group was commissioned to establish a 1980 MW thermal plant at Mansa. The project got delayed for multiple reasons, after which the company outsourced it to a Chinese company.
Bhaskar Raman was arrested in the INX media case
In February 2018, S Bhaskar Raman was arrested by CBI in the INX Media case. He was later sent to judicial custody. Later, he was granted bail by the court. In August 2019, it was reported that Bhaskar Raman, during questioning by the investigation agency in May 2018, was confronted with evidence, including documents and hard drives seized from the premises of Chennai-based Chess Global Advisory Services Pvt Ltd. He allegedly told the officers that a shell company controlled by Karti Chidambaram allegedly paid for his certain expenses, including travel bills.
An FIR was registered in May 2017, where CBI had alleged there were irregularities in Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance granted to INX media for foreign funds worth Rs 305 crore when Karti’s father P Chidambaram was the Home Minister.
Indrani Mukerjea, owner and founder of INX media, had alleged that one of Karti Chidambaram’s companies benefitted in exchange for the approval. P Chidambaram had spent over 100 days in custody in a money laundering case filed by Enforcement Directorate (ED) based on FIR by CBI. The father-son duo were also named as accused in Aircel Maxim Scam.
