Updated
New Delhi, Dec 15 (IANS): Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday accused the CBI of raiding his office in search of a file related to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. Jaitley rubbished the allegation.
"Rajendra (Kumar) is an excuse, Kejriwal is the target," he said, referring to the chief minister's principal secretary who the CBI alleged was involved in corruption.
The Central Bureau of Investigation denied raiding Kejriwal's office.
But the visibly furious chief minister said the CBI was lying because its officers did search his office.
He said his office didn't maintain files beyond 10-15 days old.
"If they were looking for files of 2007-14 period, what were they looking for in my office?"
They wanted, Kejriwal said, a report of the commission that had probed on his instructions the affairs of the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA), which he alleged was a den of corruption.
Jaitley had been involved for a long time with the DDCA, he said.
"They wanted the file of DDCA... Jaitley figures in it. They came looking for that file," he told reporters outside the residence of Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia where AAP leaders met earlier in the day.
He pointed out that Kumar had held senior positions in the departments of education, IT and VAT.
"If they were looking for proof of corruption, they should be looking for the concerned files in those departments.
"But I do not think the (CBI) action is to check (corrupt) contracts. If he had given out contracts wrongly, those departments should have been raided. The files (related to his alleged corruption) are there."
He also demanded to know why ministers in the previous Congress government and other officers who also signed the supposedly corrupt contracts approved by Kumar were not raided.
Speaking in his characteristic style, Kejriwal said he was firmly opposed to corruption and he would not mind sending his own son to jail if he indulged in corruption.
"Let me tell you Modi ji, you may frighten others with CBI raids. You can't frighten me."
Responding to criticism that he erred by calling Modi "a coward and a psychopath", Kejriwal said he may have used inappropriate language. But he said he would apologise only if Modi did so.
"The prime minister must apologize for his deeds. Then I will apologise for my words."
House of Kejriwal's secretary raided, not CM's office: CBI
The CBI on Tuesday said it conducted raids at 14 different places in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, including the house of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's secretary, after obtaining warrants from a court but termed as baseless the reports that the chief minister's office was among these.
"The CBI has registered a case against a senior civil servant of the Delhi government and six others on the allegation that during the period 2007 to 2014, he, along with others, abused his official position in awarding contracts from the Delhi Government to a private firm.
"After obtaining warrants from the competent court, searches are in progress at 14 locations today (Tuesday) in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh," Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) spokesperson Devpreet Singh told reporters at the agency headquarters here.
She said reports from certain quarters regarding a search at Kejriwal's office are baseless.
"CBI emphatically denies having searched the office of Delhi chief minister. False propaganda should not be used to impede our investigation," she added.
The CBI spokesperson had earlier said that documents related to three immovable properties along with cash were recovered from the residence of Rajendra Kumar, principal secretary to the Delhi chief minister. The agency said it has recovered Rs.2.4 lakh and an additional Rs.3 lakh in foreign currency from Kumar's house.
Kejriwal claimed that the CBI had raided his office and called Prime Minister Narendra Modi a "coward".
The CBI also said that Kumar was not cooperating with it in opening his email accounts.
It said another Rs.10.5 lakh had been recovered from G.K. Nanda, who it claimed was a co-accused with Kumar in a case of corruption. Nanda is the general manager of Telecommunications Consultants India Ltd (TCIL).
Earlier Report
Kejriwal claims CBI raided his office, calls PM Modi a 'psychopath'
New Delhi, Dec 15 (PTI): Amid claims and counter-claims, CBI today raided the office of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal that led him to unleash a vitriolic attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, calling him a "coward and psychopath" and intensifying the face-off between ruling AAP and Centre.
The Chief Minister, who broke the news of raids on Twitter, accused the Modi government of resorting to vendetta politics and came down heavily on the CBI for the raids at Players Building, which is home to the offices of the Delhi secretariat in central Delhi.
"CBI raids my office," Kejriwal tweeted.
"When Modi cudn't handle me politically, he resorts to this cowardice. Modi is a coward and psychopath," he said in another tweet expressing his anguish over the raids.
A CBI Spokesperson, however, said the searches were being conducted at the office of the Principal Secretary Rajendra Kumar. Searches were being conducted at 14 locations, the spokesperson said, but did not give details.
The BJP also hit back at Kejriwal with Union Minister Prakash Javadekar saying the CBI was only probing a complaint of corruption against an officer and maintained it has nothing to do with Kejriwal's office.
CBI sources said that a team of its officials went to the Delhi Secretariat, which houses office of Kejriwal and other ministers in the morning and conducted the search in the third floor of the building.
The CBI said it has registered a case against Rajendra Kumar on allegations of abusing his official position by "favouring a particular firm in the last few years in getting tenders from Delhi government departments."
"After taking warrants, searches are being conducted in the office and residence of Rajendra Kumar. The allegations against Rajendra Kumar were raised by Ashish Joshi, former Member Secretary, Delhi Dialogue Commission," the agency said.
The third floor of the secretariat also houses Kejriwal's office.
The AAP government has been locked in a running feud with the Centre over the control of important functions like law and order, police and land.
Delhi Government and AAP reacted angrily to the "raid". calling it a "darkest" day and "undeclared emergency" in the history of Indian democracy.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia claimed the Centre was controlling the CBI and claimed the raid at Rajendra Kumar's office was aimed at sending message to officials "if they worked with Kejriwal honestly, they will be troubled."
"If Modi ji wants to send a message amongst officials who are working that if you work along with Kejriwal honestly, then they will be targeted, then it is a very dangerous message. This will have opposite effect," he warned.
Another AAP leader Ashutosh said CBI is "lying to the teeth" for saying that the office of the chief minister was raided and attacked Modi.
BJP condemned Kejriwal for the kind of language used to criticise Modi and said it was "absolutely unacceptable".
"Does he want to protect the corrupt?," Javedekar asked, adding, "Instead of taking action against the corrupt, he is accusing the prime minister. This is absolutely unacceptable."