Journalist Upendra Rai sent to 3-day CBI custody

CBI Public Prosecutor Manoj Shukla had sought seven-day custody of the accused.

New Delhi, May 4: Journalist Upendra Rai, arrested for his alleged involvement in dubious financial transactions, was on Friday (May 4) sent to CBI custody for three days by a Delhi court.

Special CBI Judge Santosh Snehi Mann remanded Rai to police custody after the agency said a large number incriminating material were recovered during the probe and he has not been cooperating in the investigation. CBI Public Prosecutor Manoj Shukla had sought seven-day custody of the accused.

Rai's counsel said he was neither hiding nor running away and his custody was not required to complete the probe. He said he has not tampered with the evidence and there was no allegation that he has tried to influence any witness. Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court had refused to interfere with his arrest, saying it has not gone through the application filed by Rai seeking protection.

The CBI had yesterday arrested the Delhi-based scribe for allegedly indulging in dubious financial transactions and getting an airport access pass made by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) by furnishing false information. Rai has claimed he has been framed in the case as he has been writing against an ED officer who was part of the team probing the 2G spectrum allocation scam case.

Rai was questioned at the agency headquarters along with two others for the entire day before being arrested yesterday, officials had said. Prasun Roy, chief security officer of Air One Aviation Pvt Ltd, was also booked by the CBI in the case, they had said.

The probe agency had carried out searches at eight locations in Lucknow, Noida, Delhi and Mumbai. In its FIR, the agency has alleged that going by the value of the transactions of over Rs one lakh during 2017, Rai's accounts received Rs 79 crore while Rs 78.51 crore was debited from it during the same period.

PTI