The Samajwadi Party MP, Mr Rewati Raman Singh, today appeared before Delhi Police for questioning in connection with the 2008 cash-for-vote scam, the fourth person to be quizzed in the past 10 days after the Supreme Court came down heavily on investigators for carrying out a shoddy probe.
Mr Rewati Raman, the 68-year-old Allahabad MP, reached the Crime Branch office in Chanakyapuri at around 11:40 am.
The questioning of Mr Rewati Raman comes three days after his former party colleague Mr Amar Singh was questioned by the investigators. Two persons Mr Sanjeev Saxena, a former aide of Mr Amar Singh, and Mr Suhail Hindustani, an alleged go-between Mr Amar Singh and BJP sought to be bribed, were arrested after quizzing.
The aim of questioning is to ask Mr Rewati Raman about the telephone call he received from Mr Hindustani on the midnight of July 21 and 22 to strike a deal to buy BJP MPs, a senior police official said.
Police had already given a virtual clean chit to Mr Rewati Raman and others saying it was Mr Hindustani only who tried to approach them for striking a deal for MPs to vote in favour of the UPA Government.
Investigators believe that Mr Hindustani is the “master orchestrator” of the scam and he tried to entrap the leaders of Samajwadi Party and it was this purpose that he telephoned Mr Rewati Raman.
Police claimed that none of the Congress leaders or SP leaders mentioned by Mr Hindustani had made any effort to contact him to strike a deal.
Investigators are also preparing to question the BJP MP, Mr Ashok Argal, who was allegedly given the bribe money, and the BJP leader Mr L.K. Advani’s former aide Mr Sudheendra Kulkarni this week before police submit its status report to the Supreme Court this Friday.
The probe in the three-year-old scam gathered momentum last week after the Supreme Court came down heavily on Delhi Police for its “callous” investigations in the case.
Reacting to the summons issued to Mr Rewati Raman and the questioning of Mr Amar Singh, the SP chief, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav, yesterday said it was “injustice” and a “conspiracy to trouble” both the Parliamentarians.
Mr Yadav claimed that the former SP leader, Mr Amar Singh, was not involved in bribing of BJP MPs. “We only helped by voting in their (Congress’) favour. Did we join the government? Did Amar Singh or Rewati Singh become ministers? Had money changed hands, I would have known about it,” he claimed.