Jogen Choudhury, painter and a member of the APC, said: “This is a sensitive case. I will not like to comment,”

The CBI also found that the VMH authority gave out as much as Rs 70 lakh in 2005-7 to NGOs promoting arts and culture which the investigators believe were close to Nandini Panda. The trustees and the finance committee were not told about the grants. “The grants were unauthorised and arbitrary,” said a CBI official.

Nandini Panda said, “The allegations against me are baseless. I do not meddle in Victoria’s affairs. I know some dealers, but never talked with them regarding Victoria. I visit Victoria because I am an author and an expert in Sanskrit. This is a conspiracy against my husband.”

The CBI is also probing a foreign bank account in London in the name of Panda’s mother-in-law. “I will make no comment on the foreign account. But I have not given money to NGOs. Financial grants were provided whenever there was a collaborative project between the NGOs and the Victoria Memorial,” Panda added.