Interim CBI Chief Nageshwara Rao Rubbishes Media Reports Hinting At Questionable Transactions By Wife

In a statement that he released in his personal capacity, the interim CBI chief Nageshwara Rao has rubbished media reports insinuating that his wife was involved in dubious financial transactions with a Kolkata-based firm.

Indian Express, citing Register of Companies reported that Rao’s wife M Sandhya borrowed Rs 25 lakh from Angela Mercantiles Private Ltd (AMPL), a Kolkata-based trading company, in the financial year ending March 2011 and also issued loans amounting to Rs 1.14 crore to AMPL in three tranches. However Rao in his detailed rebuttal rubbished the reports as ‘incorrect and untrue’.

Providing a chronological order of events, Rao said his wife had taken a loan of Rs 25 lakh from AMPL for purchase of an immoveable property in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh. Rao said that AMPL proprietor Praveen Agarwal was a longterm family friend.

He said that a year later, his wife sold some acres of land from her inherited agricultural property for an amount of Rs 30.72 lakh and two months later sold more land for an amount of Rs 27.90 lakh.

"Thus she received a total amount of Rs 58.62 lakh as sale proceeds during 2011. This along with Rs 1.38 lakh from personal savings and a total of Rs 60 lakh was sent to Angela Mercantiles Private limited in 2011, who after deducting the loan amount retained the balance of Rs 35 lakh as investment," he added.

Rao added that in July 2014, a little less than three years of the investment, the Kolkata-based company returned to her a total of Rs 41.33 lakh which included an interest of Rs 6.33 lakh.

Rao also said that all the property transactions of his family over the years have been submitted to the Government of India and can be easily verified.

Rao has been under attack from the opposition who have alleged that he has been an unapologetic proponent of 'Hindutva' causes.

The 1986 batch Odisha cadre IPS officer Rao, who has been made interim director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), is a well regarded cop known for handling disasters in the Odisha as well as neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.