Karti Chidambaram Leaves For London Just Two Days After CBI Raids, Fuels Speculation

Karti Chidambaram, son of the former finance minister P Chidambaram, has left the country for London, just two days after several properties belonging to the family were raided by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), fueling speculation that he could have fled the country to avoid arrest in the case.

Reports suggest that the raids were conducted in connection with Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearances granted to INX Media, a company owned by Indrani and Peter Mukerjea. Karti Chidambaram had reportedly received monetary benefits for helping Indrani and Peter Mukerjea evade a tax probe against them in a case of violation of FIPB conditions for an investment from Mauritius.

Earlier, the CBI had filed an FIR against Chidambarams and the Mukerjeas on charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating, receiving illegal gratification, influencing public servants and criminal misconduct.

However, P Chidambaram has come to his rescue, describing his son's visit as a ‘scheduled trip’ and saying that the authorities haven’t taken away his right to travel. He also attacked the government, accusing it of using CBI and other agencies for political vendetta.

"The government, using CBI and other agencies, is targeting my son and his friends. The government's aim is to silence my voice and stop me from writing, as it has tried to do in the cases of leaders of opposition parties, journalists, columnists, NGOs and civil society organisations,” he was quoted as saying.