The Hindu : 'Tehelka counsel's secretary assaulted by CBI officials'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jun 28, 2002

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'Tehelka counsel's secretary assaulted by CBI officials'

By J. Venkatesan

NEW DELHI June 27. A day after the CBI raided the Tehelka office, counsel for the portal, Sidharth Luthra, has alleged that the CBI officials assaulted his secretary, C. Vinod Varghese around 9.30 pm on Wednesday, when he was returning home from office.

In a petition sent to the Union Home Minister, L.K. Advani, the CBI Director, president of the Supreme Court Bar Association and the chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, Mr. Luthra highlighted the `highhandedness' of the CBI officials and sought their immediate intervention.

(However, the CBI spokesman, S.M. Khan said ``it is totally a false, baseless and concocted story. Our search operations in the Tehelka office were over by 6 p.m. and thereafter none of our officers contacted any of the people in the Tehelka office. No one from the CBI intercepted or assaulted the lawyer's secretary'').

The petition said that Mr. Varghese was confronted by some CBI officials in plainclothes driving a Maruti Gypsy near the Moolchand flyover. Though Mr. Varghese was allowed to proceed, he was intercepted and assaulted near the Chittaranjan Park turning. The lawyer alleged that the CBI officials also threatened to shoot down his secretary.

According to the lawyer, the CBI men wanted to know from Mr. Varghese as to who were all sitting in the office and when he did not answer, they held him by his collar, pushed him and threw down his driving licence.

The lawyer also alleged that his office-cum-residence was kept under surveillance by some suspicious-looking men till well into Thursday morning. He said that his staff members and himself were being victimised on account of his professional commitment to his client, Tehelka and an attempt was being made to intimidate and put pressure.

Meanwhile the reporter of Tehelka portal, Kumar Badal, whose house and the portal's office were raided by the CBI on Wednesday has denied the claim of the investigating agency that he was absconding and a lookout notice had been issued for him.

In a letter sent to the CBI Director, Mr. Luthra denied that Mr. Badal was absconding. He said Mr. Badal was ready and willing to be present for enquiry as and when notice was served on him in accordance with law.

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