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This is an archive article published on October 1, 2005

Raids planned year ahead on secret list of targets

The CBI raids were the fourth such operation this year but few realise that these surprise swoops are, in fact, part of what the agency call...

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The CBI raids were the fourth such operation this year but few realise that these surprise swoops are, in fact, part of what the agency calls its ‘‘programme of action’’ set at the beginning of the year itself.

Asked about the success rate of such quick countrywide raids, CBI director U.S. Misra says, ‘‘We set a timeframe for reviewing cases and the results of last year’s raids are now being analysed. We have a guideline for Disproportionate Assets cases to be wrapped up by a year and of misuse of office in a year.’’

So, how is the confidential list of officials to be raided drawn up?

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The single most important criterion is for the name of a targetted official to figure in a secret list called the ‘‘agreed list’’. ‘‘The agreed has hundreds of names on it every year and is an important reference point for conducting our search operations. Once an official’s name comes on the list, it gives us the mandate to put him under close watch and surveillance.’’

The ‘‘agreed list’’ is drawn up by the CBI in consultation with top officials of every government department, ministry and PSU. The officials named are not to be picked for sensitive assignments.

The CBI also maintains another list of ‘‘persons of doubtful integrity’’ but this information is in the public domain since it contains names of officials against whom the CBI has booked cases.

Besides the “agreed list’’, the CBI picks its targets for raids from among officials against whom it has lodged (internally) ‘‘source information reports’’. These reports allow the agency to put an officer under watch. Once the ‘‘source information reports’’ get verified and allegations are substantiated, the names are tagged on to lists of persons to be raided.

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For almost every official targetted in such special countrywide drives, the CBI quietly lodges an FIR just a day or two before the action. The next stage is converting the FIR into a chargesheet. The CBI says there are no ready figures to show how many raided officials end up getting chargesheeted as well.

Misra says the CBI frames their ‘‘programme of work’’ in the beginning of the year and inform the divisions concerned throughout the country months in advance.

‘‘Our attempt has been to cover departments which have not been covered in the special drives in the recent past,’’ says Misra. ‘‘Therefore, today we have also covered officials working in organisations like ONGC, CAPART and the National Council of Homeopathy which are relatively new targets for us.’’

Ritu Sarin is Executive Editor (News and Investigations) at The Indian Express group. Her areas of specialisation include internal security, money laundering and corruption. Sarin is one of India’s most renowned reporters and has a career in journalism of over four decades. She is a member of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) since 1999 and since early 2023, a member of its Board of Directors. She has also been a founder member of the ICIJ Network Committee (INC). She has, to begin with, alone, and later led teams which have worked on ICIJ’s Offshore Leaks, Swiss Leaks, the Pulitzer Prize winning Panama Papers, Paradise Papers, Implant Files, Fincen Files, Pandora Papers, the Uber Files and Deforestation Inc. She has conducted investigative journalism workshops and addressed investigative journalism conferences with a specialisation on collaborative journalism in several countries. ... Read More

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