CM WELCOMES CBI PROBE

NO TEST IN LUCKNOW FORENSIC LAB

BENGALURU: The mysterious death of Karnataka cadre IAS officer Anurag Tewari has taken a political turn, covering two states and two parties, with the CBI stepping in to probe the case.Within hours of Tewari's death, Karnataka BJP MP Shobha Karandlaje dashed off a letter demanding a probe to UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath. “I have got information from credible sources that Tewari could be a victim of the foodgrain smuggling mafia.This is what middle-level officials in Karnataka are talking,“ she said in the letter.Tewari's family has alleged that he was about to expose a food scam.Speaking to TOI, Karandlaje, who was the food and civil supplies minister from 20102012 in the state's BJP government, said: “ A lot of corruption happens in transportation of rice from the food and civil supplies department godowns to fair price shops. I have some ground-level officers telling me that he was looking into these irregularities.“Karandlaje claimed she had no reasons to suspect that anyone in Uttar Pradesh wanted to kill him. “I have asked for a CBI probe as the case involves two states and it cannot be investigated by the Special Investigation Team of Uttar Pradesh alone,“ she added. With the CBI commencing probe, the state Congress government's Rs 4,400 crore per annum flagship programme Anna Bhagya, covering 1.08 crore families, may also come under the scanner. T he scheme envisages giving 7 kg rice per person to BPL families at Re 1 per kg.An RTI application filed in 2016 had pointed out to discrepancies in payments regarding procurement of rice for Anna Bhagya during 2013-2014. While the Chhattisgarh government claimed to have supplied rice worth Rs 346 crore to Karnataka which maintained it paid Rs 383 crore. The CBI is likely to look into more such lapses including pilferages during transportation of rice from godowns to ration shops.Officials, however, said that Tewari was barely a month into the food and civil supplies department to understand the public distribution system and associated pilferages to comprehend a scam as claimed by his family .Food and civil supplies secretary Harsh Gupta, who was Tewari's immediate senior, said he's not concerned overtly about the complaint lodged by his family . “It's a sad situation. The cops will do their job and investigate. The truth will be out there for everyone to see,“ he said.Food and civil supplies minister U T Khader said, “Our department does not have any opportunity for a Rs 2,000 crore scam as claimed by the officer's family . And even if there was one, he could have brought it to the notice of Governor, CM or me. Where is the evidence for the CBI to probe?“Chief minister Siddaramaiah has welcomed UP government's decision to recommend for a CBI probe in IAS officer Anurag Tewari's death. Speaking to reporters here on Monday, the CM said, “We had written to UP CM Yogi Adityanath for a thorough probe.“ Meanwhile, a section of the bureaucracy feared that the BJP-led Centre could use the CBI to indulge in witch-hunting in Karnataka on the pretext of trying to ascertain if Tewari was about to expose a scam. “We want the truth but don't want parties to politicize his death,“ a senior IAS officer said. TNN Lucknow's Mahanagar forensic science laboratory will not handle viscera and other samples collected from the crime scene and Anurag Tewari's body.Conceding to the demands of Tewari's family, Lucknow SSP Deepak Kumar on Monday assured them that the exhibits will be sent to reputed medical science institutes elsewhere.Tewari's brother Mayank raised doubts on credentials of Mahanagar laboratory, its director and some of his subordinates. “A joint director-level officer of Mahanagar laboratory tried to influence the panel of doctors who conducted autopsy, so we have apprehensions. The joint director wanted to show Anurag's death as natural and argued with doctors at the KGMU mortuary. Senior administrative officials know about it but have not done anything,“ said Mayank.Kumar said he will write to Institute of Medical Sciences, BHU and AIIMS and get the examination done. “If need be, I will also approach the Central Forensic Science Laboratory,“ he said.