CBI director's links with Moin Qureshi crop-up: Is it trouble in making for 10, Janpath?
This came to light from Sinha's visitor diary, which has been submitted in a sealed cover to the Supreme Court by Centre for Public Interest Litigation. The diary has names of other accused too.
It is believed that the two are family friends as Qureshi's wife Nasreen is also a frequent visitor to 2, Janpath, Sinha's official residence.
If turn out to be true, the development could lead the CBI director in deep trouble.
Who is Moin Akhtar Qureshi?
Alleged Hawala operator and Kanpur-based meat exporter Moin Akhtar Qureshi hogged into limelight after continous raids and survey by the IT department. The investigation also exposed his links with Cabinet Ministers and a political leader believed to be very close to 10 Janpath.
According to sources, the IT department seized over Rs 6 crores in cash and 20 lockers in the name of Qureshi's employees during its first raid.
Qureshi, a Doon school alumnus and president of its old boys' society, has seen phenomenal growth in his wealth in the last decade. He has started 25 companies since 1993, with AMQ Agro, which exports animal gut, being the flagship firm. Records with the Registrar of Companies show that seven of his companies deal in real estate and have non-descript activities with a low paid-up capital base.
Reports suggest that Qureshi has deflated his actual wealth on paper as his bank account transactions in London and Dubai are not concomitant with his disclosed income.
Qureshi's meteoric rise during UPA's tenure
Qureshi's old friend said that he was financially well off earlier but became seriously rich only recently. He has suddenly acquired political clout in the past 8-10 years. His rise comes during tenure of a former CBI director, who investigated several sensitive cases, including the 2G scam and Coalgate.
According to reports, former CBI director AP Singh had introduced Qureshi to the elite social circles of New Delhi. Singh also rented out his house (C-134, Defence Colony), registered in his mother's name to Moin Qureshi for office space. It is reported that bribe money, which the former CBI director received from a corporate named in 2G case, is allegedly routed by Qureshi via Dubai-London route.
Phone records also shows Qureshi's links with former CBI chief AP Singh
The 500 hours phone records of Qureshi tracked by IT department in December 2012, shows his links with former CBI chief AP Singh.
The
IT
department
placed
Qureshi's
phone
under
surveillance
following
Pakistani
Sufi
singer
Rahat
Fateh
Ali
Khan's
detention
and
interrogation.
Khan
was
in
India
to
sing
at
the
wedding
of
Qureshi's
daughter.
When
the
directorate
of
revenue
intelligence
(DRI)
detained
Pakistani
sufi
singer
Rahat
Fateh
Ali
Khan
at
the
Delhi
airport
in
February
2011.
He
was
detained
for
not
disclosing
$124,000
that
he
was
allegedly
taking
out
of
India,
it
then
set
off
a
chain
of
events.
Qureshi's links to Congress
The investigation also exposed his links with Cabinet Ministers and a political leader believed to be very close to 10 Janpath.
Even in the run up the Lok Sabha polls, BJP's PM nominee Narendra Modi, now the Prime Minister, raised the case at an election rally in Akbarpur on April 18 saying Qureshi has close links with 10, Janpath, Congress president Sonia Gandhi's residence, besides other Congress leaders.
Modi
had
questioned,
"Shouldn't
the
truth
come
out?"
This
piece
of
information
raises
serious
questions
on
these
meetings
between
a
controversial
businessman
and
the
head
of
the
country's
top
investigating
agency.
Moreover, Sinha's visitor diary also shows that Devendra Darda was one of the frequent visitors CBI chief's official residence in Lutyen's Delhi. Devendra is the son of Congress MP from Yavatmal, Vijay Darda, also an accused in coal scam along with his brother Rajendra Darda.
The kind of relations Qureshi shared with top bureaucrats like Ranjit Sinha and others, shows that he must have used the top bureaucrats to expand his business empire and might have acted as mediator in many deals relating to 2G case, coalgate etc. In the light of the allegation of the meat exporter's link with Congress leadership, there is clear case of investigation to find if the top leaders of the ruling party during UPA rule were behind the growth of his empire?