Suresh Kalmadi arrested

[Rob2012]

Delhi Commonwealth Games chief Suresh Kalmadi arrested

The chief organiser of the 2010 Commonwealth Games held in the Indian capital, Delhi, has been arrested on corruption charges.

Suresh Kalmadi was removed from his post in January and has been under investigation over allegations of corruption.

He denies any wrongdoing.

The build-up to the Games was marred by revelations of sleaze, incompetence and missed construction deadlines.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-13186190

[Rob2012]

a bit more:

A spokesman for India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said Mr Kalmadi was arrested "for conspiracy to cause favour to a company in Switzerland while procuring timers and scoring equipment for the Games".

Mr Kalmadi is expected to appear in court on Tuesday. Correspondents say that if he is found guilty, he could face years in prison.

[Rafa]

whats wrong with favouring the Swiss for timing equipment?

[Ikarus360]

Even 6 months after the games ended, the drama is still ongoing...wow. I feel bad for India, you know.

[Sir Rols]

I'm surprised they finally got him ... he's been as slippery as an eel from the lead-up to the aftermath of the games.

[Sir Rols]

A novel way for India to train its Olympic shot-put team.

Shoe hurled at Commonwealth Games chief Suresh Kalmadi

An unidentified man has thrown a shoe at Suresh Kalmadi, the disgraced former chief of the 2010 Commonwealth Games, in the Indian capital, Delhi.

Mr Kalmadi was being taken to court in the city when the would-be assailant struck. The shoe missed its target.

Mr Kalmadi was arrested on Monday, accused of conspiracy regarding the awarding of commercial contracts for the Games. He denies any wrongdoing.

The build-up to the Games was marred by allegations of sleaze and incompetence.

Throwing a shoe at someone is considered a grave insult in India.

Television pictures showed a man running towards Mr Kalmadi - who was removed from his post in January - as he walked to the court surrounded by policemen.

The man jumped in the air and threw a slipper at the Games chief, but missed. He was then detained by police.

Inside the court, Mr Kalmadi was remanded in custody for eight days while the authorities investigate the charges against him.

His lawyer told the court his arrest was "illegal".

Mr Kalmadi's office in the western city of Pune was ransacked overnight by protesters.

A spokesman for India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said on Monday that Mr Kalmadi had been arrested "for conspiracy to cause favour to a company in Switzerland while procuring timers and scoring equipment for the Games", which were held last October.

Other charges relate to contracts at a 2009 event in London which marked the start of a baton race across Commonwealth countries, say reports.

If found guilty Mr Kalmadi could face years in prison. He is the third Commonwealth Games official to be detained in India accused of corruption.

The row over the Games is one of a series of corruption scandals that has rocked India in recent months.

BBC

[Sir Rols]

This just gets more bizarre - and brazen - all the time:

Key records on CWG scam deleted from investigator's PC news

Crucial evidence relating to the Commonwealth Games scam has once again been tampered, with important files in the computer of the chief vigilance officer (CVO) of the organising committee (OC) having been wiped out on Sunday morning, The Indian Express reported.

Jarnail Singh, the CEO of the committee, says an analysis of the computer of Gurjot Kaur, the CVO, revealed that the computer was activated on Sunday morning when the OC office was closed, and all the files deleted. The OC is filing a complaint with the Delhi police.

But this is not the first time that the computers in the OC offices have been tampered with. Last October, for instance, nearly a dozen cases of theft of computers and data were reported from OC offices. This occurred days after allegations of financial irregularities against Suresh Kalmadi, the former chief of the committee, and some of his key aides surfaced.

Kalmadi, a Congress MP from Pune, was arrested on Monday and remanded to eight days police custody (See: Kalmadi remanded to 8-days police custody; sacked as IOA president)

More than half a dozen other key aides, including Lalit Bhanot, the former secretary-general of the Commonwealth Games organising committee, and V K Verma, the former director-general of the committee, have already been arrested in the case.

Kaur, a senior government official, was brought to the OC in February, and was the nodal officer coordinating with the various investigative agencies probing into the financial irregularities of the committee. The OC is now trying to retrieve the back-up files. While the OC building is under CCTV surveillance, the CVO's office is not covered by the cameras.

Last year, a junior employee of the pantry was nabbed after CCTV footage revealed he was involved in stealing data from computers.

The CVO and other OC officials have already handed over the bulk of data relating to various irregularities to the investigating agencies. The information technology system at the OC is not tamper-proof and the records have often been pilfered.

Earlier this year, the probe agencies and the K Shunglu committee, which also investigated the irregularities, found it difficult to establish links between Kalmadi and his close lieutenants and the numerous financial irregularities, as they found large-scale tampering of records.

However, with the help of computer and security experts they were able to pin them down.

Domain-b.com

[Sir Rols]

Poor Suresh ... now it seems he can't remember anything he may or may not have done in the lead-up to the games:

CWG a 'distant memory' for Suresh Kalmadi?

There are several forgettable memories associated with the Commonwealth Games as far as former CWG Organising Committee chief Suresh Kalmadi is concerned. And, interestingly, his defence in court is on similar lines. The CWG scam accused has now claimed he suffers from dementia. His detractors are not buying it. Even party colleague, sports minister Ajay Maken has not responded favourably. Maken on Monday said Kalmadi cannot escape from the law just because he is suffering from dementia.

Mind games!

Medical experts say though dementia is rampant among politicians, it is curable. Legal luminaries, on the other hand, say it could be a tried and tested strategy by Kalmadi to evade corruption charges levelled against him.

Dementia became the buzzword in the national political circle with Kalmadi's; not many people knew till Monday that 3.7 million Indians suffer from genuine dementia.

National Chairman of Alzheimer's and Related Disorders Society of India (ARDSI), Dr K Jacob Roy told MiD DAY: "The most famous case is that of Ronald Reagan, who had confirmed Alzheimer's; many believe that he had the disease even while holding the post of president of US. Our situation is different; most people don't want to admit it because many perceive it as a mental illness.

Recently the case of former defence minister George Fernandez came up purely because of legal issues. The recent news of Kalmadi being diagnosed to have dementia is causing quite a stir, mainly because he stands accused in financial irregularities. Our doctors are capable of making a fairly good diagnosis of dementia with investigations like MRI."

Brain drain

Dr Ajay Pal Singh, psychologist, Max Healthcare said, "Dementia is caused when a person's brain cells start dying. It can be due to some deposits in the brain. Due to dementia that person loses his memory. He may forget to dress up or forget his house and keep wandering around. Generally, it is seen in people above the age group of 60 but there can be exceptions everywhere. Talking about Kalmadi, it seems unlikely that he is suffering from dementia since he was running a huge organisation. But yes, there are ways by which you can judge whether he is lying about his disease or not."

Too convenient?

"As Kalmadi has never revealed about his disease ever when he was holding the important post, it is hard for anyone to believe that he is actually suffering from the disease. Many feel he is just saying so to save himself from the law," said Omprakash, a lawyer at Tis Hazari court.

Meanwhile, BJP leader Prakash Javadekar told MiD DAY, "It is a legal tactic. They will have to prove that it (the disease) was seven years old. Kalmadi should have left the job at that time only. He has betrayed the nation. He has betrayed the voter of his constituency, Pune. Now he is betraying the court. The Court will find the truth." 66-year-old Kalmadi, who has been lodged in Tihar jail for the last two months, was recently taken to Lok Narayan Jai Prakash Hospital and an MRI scan was conducted on him.

MidDay

[Sir Rols]

IOC asks India for details of corruption case involving Commonwealth Games chief

LAUSANNE, Switzerland — India’s Olympic body faces possible IOC sanctions over its continuing links with the disgraced head of the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

Suresh Kalmadi was released on bail last week, after spending nine months in prison following his arrest over alleged corruption connected to the over-budget event in New Delhi. It’s unclear whether Kalmadi has formally left the Indian Olympic Association after 15 years as president.

The International Olympic Committee is asking Indian officials to explain the “exact current situation of Mr. Kalmadi before the courts of justice.” The IOC says its executive board will consider the case in March “based on the answers that the IOA provides.”

The IOC reminded Indian officials to respect the IOC’s ethics code.

Washington Post