NEW DELHI, Nov 1: In the first FIR in the fake travel claims scam, the CBI has booked JD(U) Rajya Sabha MP Anil Kumar Sahani and carried out searches at multiple locations including at his premises.
CBI sources said today that besides Sahani, an Air India employee Rubaina Akhtar and a Lajpat Nagar-based travel operator Air Cruise Travels Private Limited here were also named in the FIR in the scam in which Leave Travel Concession (LTC) claims were forged for travel on state-run Air India.
The sources said that a team of CBI officials also went to the Rajya Sabha secretariat and collected relevant records in connection with the scam in which lakhs of rupees were fraudulently claimed from the Government. They clarified that this was not a search oepration.
“CBI has registered one FIR against a Rajya Sabha MP in a case of fraudulent claims on the basis of forged air tickets and boarding passes,” CBI spokesperson said here today.
CBI sources said the agency has registered a case under the relevant sections of Indian Penal Code(IPC) and Prevention of Corruption Act.
More cases could be also registered in connection with the fake travel bills case–also known as LTC scam–which was referred to the agency by the Central Vigilance Commission(CVC), the sources said.
After the FIR was registered, the sources said agency teams searched various locations including Sahani’s office here and residential premises in Muzaffarpur in Bihar, office of Air India here and office of the tour operator.
Sahani has been accused of making false claims of Rs nine lakh for seven air tickets to Port Blair and return in December 2012 using fake air tickets and boarding passes for himself and six associates.
Calls made to Sahani seeking his reaction remained unanswered. He also did not respond to sms’s for his version of events in the scam in government employees availing concessional tickets.
The travel agent also did not respond. The person who received call refused to identify herself and promised to return the call.
The smses sent to Air India spokesperson also remained unanswered.
All MPs(noth Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha) get 34 free air tickets in a year for themselves, their family members and associates for domestic travel to their constituencies.
The agency had initiated a preliminary enquiry after receiving a reference from Central Vigilance Commission.
During analysis of documents, CBI had found prima facie irregularities in claiming the LTC with an intention to maximise the personal benefit by scuttling the laid down norms which was done in collusion with the travel agents.
The incident had come to light after the vigilance department of Air India(AI) was alerted about the arrest of a man in March at the Kolkata airport with 600 blank boarding passes of the airline in his possession. (PTI)
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