Supreme Court rejects interfering in journalist Rai's arrest; CBI gets custody

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The Supreme Court on Friday refused to interfere with the arrest of senior journalist Upendra Rai for dubious transactions in his accounts to the tune of over Rs 100 crore as a court sent him to three-day CBI custody. A bench of Justice A.K. Sikri and Justice Ashok Bhushan refused to go through the application filed by Rai seeking protection.

Rai, owner of Printlines Media Group and formerly employed with Tehelka, said he was framed in the case as he has been writing against an Enforcement Directorate official who was part of the team investigating the 2G spectrum allocation scam case.

On Thursday, Rai was arrested by the CBI for dubious transactions in his accounts and using false information to obtain a pass to access sensitive areas in airports across the country.

On Friday, he was presented before Special Judge Santosh Snehi Mann who sent him to three-day Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) custody. The CBI sought his remand on the grounds that he is required to be confronted with a large amount of incriminating material, recovered during the probe.

He is accused of committing the offence in connivance with the officials of aviation company Air One Aviation Pvt Ltd and some public servants of Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS). The CBI filed an FIR on Tuesday naming Rai, Air One Aviation Pvt Ltd, its Chief Security Officer Prasun Roy, some unidentified public servants of BACS and others.

Rai, Roy, some public servants and other private persons were questioned by the CBI at its headquarters here, a CBI official said. The CBI found that in 2017, Rai's bank accounts show a credit of Rs 79 crore with several transactions of over Rs one lakh each, while in the same period, the accounts reflect a debit amount of Rs 78.51 crore.

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