New Delhi, Sep 16 (IANS) A CBI court here on Monday extended the Enforcement Directorate custody of Ratul Puri, relative of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, in the AgustaWestland case by three days.
The ED counsel said crucial leads have been found from searches at the Hindustan Power, and they have also found an agreement signed by another accused Rajiv Saxena and have to confront Puri with the material they have accessed.
They also informed the court of finishing a ‘hash’ value verification pertaining to the 5 TB data which concluded on Sunday.
Vijay Aggarwal, appearing for Ratul Puri, argued that the court has already granted 11 days of custody.
The ED countered, saying that the statements tendered by Puri are “evasive in nature”, and maintained even three days custody is less in view of the “incriminating material” they claim to have found. The ED counsel added that the email ids Puri earlier refused to have any knowledge about have now been corroborated during these searches.
Puri’s counsel continued to deny knowledge of the said email ids. He also sought permission to let Puri’s mother meet him in the court premises.
CBI Judge Arvind Kumar finally gave the ED three days custody. But in a small respite, the ED hasn’t objected to home-cooked food brought for Puri by his mother during her meeting.
–IANS
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