Kingfisher Airline security boss lands in CBI net………Poornima Swaminathan
Mumbai: The CBI on Friday arrested the vice-president, security, of Kingfisher Airlines for allegedly misusing his office to extend favours to Manoj Malviya, additional commissioner, Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS).
The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) of the CBI said that Leslie Missal, 45, a retired armyman, had arranged for Malviya to stay in five-star hotels in Mumbai. The bills were allegedly footed by companies from the aviation sector. Ever since the CBI suspected Missal’s involvement in the case, they had been requesting him to come clean and furnish the details. But he repeatedly kept evading the sleuths and denied his involvement in the case.
The documents though proved otherwise. The CBI sleuths approached the hotels and asked for CCTV footages. They showed Missal paying the bills. “Not only did he hold back the documents, he had begun tampering with them to wriggle out of the situation,” Pravin Salunkhe, deputy inspector general, ACB (CBI), said. Senior CBI officers said that on a couple of occasions, Missal had booked a hotel room for himself, right next to Malviya’s.
Missal, who is Delhi-based, was arrested after the CBI found incriminating evidence against him. He will be produced in a special CBI court for remand on Saturday.
Earlier this month, the CBI booked Malviya, who too is stationed in Delhi, for allegedly staying in five-star hotels in Mumbai, with the cost being allegedly borne by companies from the aviation sector.
CBI investigations have also revealed that Malviya’s wife, who worked as a fund-raiser for an NGO, also used her husband’s influence to attract donors —many of them from the civil aviation sector.
An IPS officer of the 1986 batch, West Bengal cadre, Malviya had been on deputation in the BCAS for the past four-and-a-half years.
He was eligible to be elevated to the rank of an IGP, but he reportedly did not avail it.
He was eligible to be elevated to the rank of an IGP, but he reportedly did not avail it.
Prakash Mirpuri, spokesperson for Kingfisher Airlines, said, “The airlines is cooperating with the investigating agencies. It would be inappropriate to comment any further. As a company, we insist that our executives follow ethical practices in official dealings. Anyone found violating rules is dealt with appropriately.”