Judeo case: CBI registers preliminary enquiry

The Central Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday registered a 'preliminary enquiry' into the bribery charges against former Union minister of state for environment and forest Dilip Singh Judeo.

Judeo, widely believed to be the Bharatiya Janata Party's [ Images ] chief ministerial candidate in the November 20 election in Chhattisgarh, was caught on camera purportedly accepting a bribe.

CBI registered the PE after seeking legal opinion and the agency will now determine whether the VCD which showed Judeo accepting money from a contractor seeking mining rights in Chhattisgarh and Orissa was genuine or doctored, agency sources said.

CBI spokesman G Mohanty said a team has been constituted to look into the case.

When Mohanty was asked why a case of under the Prevention of Corruption Act was not registered, he said: "Don't underestimate the scope of the preliminary inquiry. It is more like a case being registered."

Deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani [ Images ], while addressing a press conference in Raipur had said that the agency would unravel the conspiracy and the people behind it.

Asked if The Indian Express Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta and the reporters who broke the story would be questioned too, he said: "We would be looking into all aspects of the incident."