New Delhi: Home secretary Anil Goswami was sacked on Wednesday on charges of trying to interfere in the Saradha scam probe by asking CBI director Anil Sinha not to arrest former Congress minister Matang Sinh, a key accused in the case, official sources revealed.
As per sources, Sinh was already under the CBI scanner for his suspicious role in influencing senior appointments in central government and central paramilitary organisations and his alleged proximity to Goswami.
According to agency sources, on being arrested in Kolkata, Sinh was asked about the nature of his relationship with the senior bureaucrat. Sinh mentioned the names of a few top bureaucrats in this context. “Sinh was seemingly in close touch with some senior civil servants and influenced senior-level appointments. We are looking at this aspect too,” the source said.
Sinh was arrested on charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating and misappropriation of funds in the Saradha case.
He was the minister of state for parliamentary affairs in Narasimha Rao's regime and allegedly took Rs 28 crore for selling a television channel to Sudipta Sen.
This is not the first time Sinh and Goswami's closeness got noticed. Last year in July, Sinh had allegedly thrown a party at his Delhi residence to celebrate the birthday of a close female acquaintance, which was attended by several senior IAS and IPS officers, including Goswami. The agency is examining the acquaintance's role in the events that unfolded on Saturday as well.
Goswami, a 1978-batch IAS officer of Jammu and Kashmir cadre, was appointed as Home Secretary in 2013 during the tenure of UPA Government. He was said to have been close to Matang Sinh, a controversial politician from Assam who was a Minister of State for Home in PV Narasimha Rao's government.
