New Delhi: With the CBI summoning Satya Pal Malik, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said the former Jammu and Kashmir governor has shown great courage in these “times of fear” and the entire country is with him.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has asked Malik to answer certain queries in connection with an alleged insurance scam in the union territory, officials said.
The CBI move comes barely a week after Malik’s interview to “The Wire”, in which he made critical remarks about the BJP-led Centre, especially regarding its handling of Jammu and Kashmir where he served as the last governor before the erstwhile state was bifurcated into Union territories.
Responding to a Twitter post by Malik, Kejriwal said in a tweet in Hindi, “The entire country is with you. You have shown great courage in these times of fear, sir. He is a coward, hiding behind CBI. Whenever there was a crisis in this great country, people like you faced it with courage.”
“He is illiterate, corrupt and a traitor. He cannot compete with you. You go ahead, sir. Proud of you,” the AAP national convenor said, without taking any names.
In his tweet, Malik said, “I have exposed the sins of some people by speaking the truth. Maybe that’s why the call has come. I am the son of a farmer, I will not panic. I stand by the truth. #CBI.”
The CBI registered two FIRs in connection with corruption allegations levelled by Malik in awarding of contracts for a group medical insurance scheme for government employees and civil work worth Rs 2,200 crore related to the Kiru hydroelectric power project in Jammu and Kashmir.
Malik had claimed that he was offered a Rs 300-crore bribe for clearing two files during his tenure as the Jammu and Kashmir governor between August 23, 2018 and October 30, 2019.
This is the second time in seven months that Malik, who completed his terms as the governor of various states, will be questioned by the CBI. He was questioned in October last year after he concluded his gubernatorial responsibilities in Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Goa and finally, Meghalaya.
AAP chief spokesperson and Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said that Malik has said that there were intelligence inputs about the possibility of a ‘fidayeen’ attack on the Army and paramilitary forces during his tenure as the Jammu and Kashmir governor.
He has also said that there were indications that an RDX-laden car was roaming, Bharadwaj said referring to the 2019 Pulwama attack in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed.
Malik has also said that no aircraft were given for the movement of CRPF personnel, he added.
“There is no bigger anti-national activity than this. They knew there was a threat but the Centre didn’t do anything,” Bharadwaj charged.
“Those people who allowed the jawans to be killed should have been tried for anti-national activities,” he said.
(Except for the headline, the story has not been edited by Siasat staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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