New Delhi, March 19 The CBI has registered a case in connection with the alleged assault on a person during his questioning by Enforcement Directorate officers in the 'Peyjal' scam in Ranchi, Jharkhand, officials said on Thursday.
The agency took over the case at the direction of the Ranchi High Court, they said.
The prime accused in the alleged scam case, Santosh Kumar, had claimed that he was called for questioning at the ED office in Ranchi, where he was questioned by Assistant Director Pratik and Assistant Shubham on January 12 in connection with alleged misappropriation of funds from the drinking water and sanitation department.
In his complaint to the local police, Kumar alleged that both officers assaulted him and wrongfully confined him, resulting in serious injuries to his head. He was allegedly taken to hospital and brought back to the office, where he was asked to sign on a declaration under coercion.
Hearing a plea of both officers who had sought quashing of the FIR against them along with a prayer to handover the case to an independent agency, the high court noted that there is an exceptional circumstance to handover the matter to the CBI.
"The allegation is made against the Central Government Agency. In view of that, a fair investigation by an independent agency is the need of the hour. In that view of the matter, the Court finds that there is an exceptional circumstance to handover the matter to the CBI," Justice Sanjay Kumar Dwivedi said.
The CBI took over the FIR from the local police and re-registered it as its own case after the high court order.