New Delhi/Mumbai, Aug 1 (Inditop.com) Former union home minister Buta Singh will be questioned, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) sources said, after reportedly seizing Saturday three unlicensed pistols from the Delhi house of his son Sarabjot Singh who has been arrested on corruption charges.
A case under the Arms Act was registered against Sarabjot alias Sweety Singh at the Nizamuddin police station in south Delhi.
Sweety Singh was arrested Friday and remanded to police custody by a Mumbai court till Aug 5 after he was caught allegedly taking a bribe of Rs.10 million from Nashik-based contractor Ramraj Patil to facilitate the withdrawal of a case against Patil for not paying his Dalit workers.
“Following Sweety Singh’s interrogation, CBI team reached his house in south Delhi today (Saturday) morning and conducted searches. Three unlicensed pistols and 38 cartridges were recovered,” said a senior CBI official requesting anonymity.
A CBI official in Mumbai earlier said that Buta Singh, now chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes, would also be questioned in connection with the corruption charges against his son.
“We shall question Buta Singh and all other people whose names figure in the complaint,” the official said on condition of anonymity. Sarabjot Singh has reportedly said that his father was aware of his bribe taking.
The official declined to specify when or where Buta Singh will be questioned.
Speaking to reporters in New Delhi, Buta Singh denied all charges against him.
Along with Sweety Singh, three men — Anoop Bedi, Dukhsingh Chauhan and Madan Solanki — were produced before Sessions Judge S.P.H. Nagarkar in Mumbai Friday and remanded to police custody till Aug 5.
According to the CBI, the corruption case against Sweety Singh involves a complaint filed by Patil.
Patil alleged that Sweety Singh demanded a bribe of Rs.30 million for the withdrawal of a case filed against Patil by a group of conservancy workers employed by him (Patil).
Patil is a garbage collection contractor with the Nashik Municipal Corporation. Some 100 workers complained he was not paying their wages and had taken a bank loan of Rs.100 million (Rs.10 crore) in their name.
Sweety Singh allegedly approached Patil with an offer to escape the provisions of law if only he paid a bribe of Rs.30 million.
After some haggling, Patil promised to pay but alerted the CBI.
CBI detectives laid a trap for Sweety Singh and caught him in New Delhi Thursday evening while allegedly accepting the first instalment of the bribe from Patil.
