CBI chief asks officials to speed up high-profile corruption cases

New Delhi, Feb 19 (IANS) A fortnight after taking charge, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Director Rishi Kumar Shukla here on Tuesday chaired a review meeting of all branches of the agency and reportedly directed speeding up of high-profile corruption cases.

According to a senior CBI official, the meeting was part of a quarterly exercise in which top officials from across the country come together for a review on the progress of the cases being probed by it.

Former Madhya Pradesh Director General of Police, who succeeded ousted Director Alok Verma, was appointed as the agency chief on February 2.

He took charge amidst a standoff between the Kolkata Police and the CBI after the agency officials were reportedly roughed up and detained for a few hours when they visited West Bengal to question Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar in connection with Saradha and Rose Valley chit fund scams.

The standoff between the CBI and the Kolkata Police turned out to be a slugfest between the Centre and the state government.

A CBI official said the heads of all 70 branches of the agency across the country, including the anti-corruption, economic offences and serious fraud wings attended the meeting. Several officials also attended the meeting through video conferencing.

According to the official, Shukla was apprised of the status of many high-profile cases being probed by the agency, including those involving politicians.

The agency is handling several sensitive cases, like Saradha and Rose Valley chit fund scams, Srijan scam, Muzaffarpur shelter home horror case, PNB fraud case, Bikaner land deal cases, Haryana land scam, illegal mining case, gutkha scam and anti-Sterlite protests, besides corruption allegations against its former officers.

The director asked officials to speed up probe into the high-profile cases, the official indicated.