RAJ KUMAR
Ranchi, May 26: The government quarter in Morhabadi, which Bandhu Tirkey had got when he was a legislator, remained a centre of attraction for many city residents after the CBI sleuths reached there in the course of investigation of the scam in holding the 34th National Games scam in Ranchi in 2011.
Those noticed included Sushil Singh Mantu, the person whose petition filed in December 2017 in the Jharkhand High Court paved the path for a CBI investigation in April this year. Singh, who is also an office-bearer of Jharkhand Press Club, appeared happy observing his effort to expose corruption in games bearing fruit.
It was Singh, who expressed his dissatisfaction over the probe being done by the state Anti Corruption Bureau and knocked on the door of the high court to ensure a better probe into the matter. The High Court ordered a CBI probe on April 11 this year and the CBI registered an FIR in the matter on April 22.
Though Singh preferred remaining tight-lipped, staying around Tirkey’s quarters he was observed glued to his mobile phone and taking updates of CBI raids going place at several places across the country and sharing the information with their confidence.
Apart from Mantu, there was a JMM leader Ladle Khan who was also noticed active near the residence giving statements to a section of media persons on the CBI raid. According to him, the raid was uncalled for and being conducted at the behest of the BJP government who wanted to influence the Rajya Sabha election by this action.
Khan gave a statement in favour of Tirkey as CBI sleuths were inside the residence in order to probe the case. Tirkey is accused of giving approval to all the files related to the scam in the capacity of the minister.
Bystanders were heard giving different responses. “What a consequence! The state government has provided a house to Tirkey behind the CBI office. It appears that the government was aware of the action and had taken proper care of the central investigative agency,” a youth was heard saying.
A lady was noticed commenting how come Tirkey is still in the MLA quarter though he lost his status as a legislator after his conviction in a case of having disproportionate assets two months ago.
