Rawat had also denied the allegation and called the video fake after it was released by the rebel Congress legislators but later admitted that he was on camera in the sting operation.
Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat was questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday in connection with a sting operation in which allegedly shows him trying to influence some rebel MLAs of the state Congress.
This is the second time Rawat has been questioned by the agency after it lodged a Preliminary Enquiry (PE) on April 29. The agency had said that Rawat, during his first round of questioning on May 24, did not respond to all of the queries of the probe agency. A claim refuted by the sitting CM of Uttarakhand.
Rawat had also denied the allegation and called the video fake after it was released by the rebel Congress legislators but later admitted that he was on camera in the sting operation.
“Mr Rawat was questioned today by our investigators are the Delhi headquarter of the agency. The questioning, that lasted for two and a half hours, is part of the preliminary enquiry,” said a CBI spokesperson.
The agency official added that the senior Congress leader will be questioned further if required but did not specify the possible date of the next round of questioning.
In a PE, which is generally followed by an FIR, the agency verifies the facts in the complaint received by it. The agency can only “request” a person “to join the probe” and cannot summon him, carry out searches or make any arrests, hence the agency had officially requested the Uttarakhand CM to join the probe.
The PE against Rawat was registered on the reference received from the state government (during President’s rule) and subsequent notification from BJP-led central government. This was after rebel Congress legislators released a CD showing Rawat offering bribes to rebel Congress lawmakers to support him during a floor test in the Uttarakhand Assembly.
After Rawat’s won the floor test, the state cabinet withdrew the notification recommending a CBI probe into a sting operation involving him but his plea to stop the central agency’s probe was rejected by the Uttarakhand High Court.
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