CBI tracks UK email saying Kalmadi got kickbacks

It is understood that the CBI has confirmed that Kalmadis aides copied email between themselves.

Probing the corruption trail in the Commonwealth Games,the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has tracked an email that,its officials say,is the first specific allegation of kickbacks paid to former Organizing Committee chief Suresh Kalmadi.

Sources said the email,dated March 8,2010,was sent by Ashish Patel,the proprietor of AM Films and AM Vans,the two London-based companies named in the agencys cases.

In the email,Patel claims he has paid 50,000 (Rs 37 lakh) to Kalmadi through one of his secretaries. And so he expects prompt payment to his companies for the contracts executed during the ceremonies associated with the Queens Baton Relay (QBR).

The CBI has listed this alleged payment in a Letter Rogatory (LR) sent to London as it tries to establish whether this amount was paid and how. A decision on Patels questioning,officials said,will be taken after the agency receives responses to the LR.

It is understood that the CBI has confirmed that Kalmadis aides copied the email between themselves and were then sent to London to settle the dispute with Patel. Patel has been named in both the cases that have been registered by the CBI in connection with the QBR,a function which was held in London and attended by President Pratibha Patil. His firms were allegedly paid 2.45 lakh for their services in violation of norms.

The CBI has alleged that,in collusion with OC officers,Patels firms got contracts at exorbitant rates without following due process. And that emails were forged by OC officials to justify the selection of Patels firm.

Patels email,sources told The Sunday Express,was recovered by the CBI from the computer of T S Darbari,the OCs former Joint Director General during raids at his office and residence.

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Darbari,along with Sanjay Mahindroo,the OCs Deputy Director General,had been arrested by the CBI in November 2010 in connection with the QBR scam but both were released since the CBI failed to file a chargesheet against them.

While Kalmadi and Darbari could not be contacted despite repeated attempts and didnt reply to text messages,Patel,speaking to The Sunday Express from London,said: I sent so many emails about payments and rates to New Delhi. How can you expect me to recall the contents of each email?

Although we are also assessing the evidence against Suresh Kalmadi in the signing of the contracts for overlays and catering,the email from Ashish Patel is the closest we have come,as yet,to linking the OC Chief directly with an alleged kickback for a CWG contract, a top CBI official told The Sunday Express. We are now doing further verification on the email, he added.