The Central Bureau of Investigation has booked Janata Dal (United) Rajya Sabha MP Anil Kumar Sahani, along with a travel agent and an Air India employee, for allegedly entering into a conspiracy in an attempt to avail himself of Rs.9.5 lakh as Leave Travel Concession (LTC) on invalid air tickets last year.
Among those named in the first FIR are AI employee Rubaina Akhtar, who works as a customer service agent, and Lajpat Nagar-based travel agency Air Cruise Travels. They, along with Mr. Sahani, have been accused of cheating, forgery, using forged documents as genuine and falsifying accounts.
Following registration of the case, the probe agency carried out searches at Mr. Sahani’s official and residential premises in the city and at Muzaffarpur in Bihar. CBI teams also conducted searches on the premises of the other two accused.
Investigations have revealed that Mr. Sahani allegedly made a false claim of Rs. 9.5 lakh for seven to-and-fro e-tickets for travel to Port Blair last December. Preliminary enquiries revealed that the tickets and boarding passes furnished by the MP for himself and his six associates were invalid.
According to the agency, the MP bought the tickets through the travel agency and, through online service obtained the boarding passes by making a web check-in. However, before the scheduled boarding time, the tickets and boarding passes were cancelled allegedly using the sign-in code allocated to the AI customer service agent.
Consequently, the money was refunded purportedly to the MP after a meagre deduction. However, copies of the previously bought e-tickets and boarding passes were furnished to claim LTC, alleged a CBI official.
A case under the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered against the three and investigations have been initiated to fix responsibility,” said the CBI official.
The CBI is expected to file a series of cases against government officials, airline employees and travel operators. An inquiry into the allegations is under way after the Central Vigilance Commission referred the matter to the CBI for appropriate action. In most cases, the modus operandi employed by the officials was similar.
