CBI summons Tamil Nadu health minister in gutka case

CHENNAI: The spectre of gutka scam returned to haunt health minister C Vijayabaskar on Friday as the CBI summoned him for an inquiry in the case. Two others, including former minister B V Ramana, have also been directed to appear at the Chennai CBI office on Saturday.
The CBI's Delhi unit had summoned Vijayabaskar's aide Saravanan for inquiry on December 7.A team of Delhi and local CBI officials will now hold an inquiry, said a source. Officials had stumbled upon a diary with suspected entries during raids at gutka godowns of Madhav Rao in June 2017.
CBI chargesheet didn’t name any minister
It all began with an income tax searches on the gutka godowns owned by one Madhav Rao in June 2017.
Having stumbled upon a diary containing list of people who had received regular ‘payments’ from Madhav Rao, the income tax department wrote a letter to the chief secretary for appropriate action against the officials and politicians involved in the racket.
A letter from the then Chennai city commissioner of police S George ‘requesting’ fair probe into the allegations too kicked up a debate.
The CBI officials claim to be in possession of material evidence and proof to substantiate their charges against top politicians and senior police officers.
Though it was DVAC that originally handled the case, after a stinging rebuke from the Madras high court the case was handed over to CBI.
The central agency has already filed a chargesheet so as to foil the release of four people, including a couple of police officials, from being released on statutory bail. The chargesheet, however, did not contain the names of any minister or senior police officer.
It is under these circumstances that the CBI has started its second round of inquiries, beginning with Vijayabaskar’s aide Saravanan.
Now that he himself, along with Ramana, has been summoned for inquiries, the next round of inquest may involve senior, serving as well as retired IPS officers.