Final CBI report against Mahanta tomorrow

GUWAHATI, January 4: Top officials of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) have begun arriving in Guwahati to submit the final report i...

GUWAHATI, January 4: Top officials of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) have begun arriving in Guwahati to submit the final report into the multi-crore Letters of Credit (LoC) scandal before the Guwahati High Court on Tuesday. In the meanwhile, Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta’s fate hangs in balance as Governor S K Sinha goes through the application of sanction against him.

CBI deputy superintendent P Lall, who is also the investigating officer into the 12 cases which are being probed by the agency, arrived here today from Delhi, while K Gopalachari, additional director CBI V N Ojha, deputy legal adviser and several others are scheduled to reach Guwahati tomorrow.

The HC which is monitoring the investigation has asked the CBI to submit its final report on the scam probe on January 6. The court had come into the scene following the submission of a public interest litigation complaining of delay in the investigations.

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Meanwhile speculations are rife on whether governor Sinha will grant sanction to prosecute Mahanta within the next two days or not. The CBI had, on December 29, sought the governor’s permission and other “concerned authorities” to prosecute Mahanta, several other politicians as well as officers.

Mahanta, according to the CBI sources, was involved in the Demow case, the most important case, in which the total amount embezzled is said to be about Rs 48 crores.

Mahanta however has been complaining that there is a conspiracy afoot and that he was targeted by the CBI at the instance of the Congress.