Pune: CBI on Monday secured the custody of SMPP CEO Ashish Kansal, a Delhi-based startup working in defence equipment manufacturing, till Friday, while B R Anil Kumar, the executive director of Munitions India Limited, and his brother Harshvardhan were sent to magisterial custody remand till Oct 22.Kumar, Kansal and Harshavardhan were arrested on Oct 13, a day after Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered in a defence-related bribery case.CBI’s counsel argued before special judge R R Mendhe of the CBI court in Pune that the agency needed to investigate other contracts allegedly awarded to Kansal, also one of the directors of SMPP, by violating prescribed procedures. Seeking five days of further custody, the CBI told the court that the role of Kansal’s startup in other contracts needed to be examined to establish the alleged modus operandi and the wider nexus involving the accused and other unidentified people.The investigating officer, inspector Avinash Gupta, submitted that certain incriminating aspects had emerged during the probe and Kansal needed to be confronted with extracted data and documents. CBI said he had to be taken to Delhi to be confronted with an angadia allegedly involved in the case. It also sought time to investigate if Kansal had committed similar acts in other instances.Opposing the plea, Kansal’s lawyer argued that the accused was arrested in Delhi and the alleged angadia was also based there. The defence contended that CBI could have confronted the two in Delhi before bringing Kansal to Pune. It also argued that allegations related to other contracts could be investigated through separate criminal cases and should not be used to justify his further custody in the present case.The defence submitted that the main accused, a public servant, had been arrested and Kansal had cooperated with the investigation by providing his email address and other necessary information. It argued that the agency had not put forward any new grounds to warrant Kansal’s further police custody and sought rejection of the application.Observing that the case concerned the country’s defence system, judge Mendhe said a detailed investigation was necessary, including unearthing similar acts allegedly committed by the accused. After perusing the case diary and hearing the investigating officer, the public prosecutor and the defence lawyer, the court allowed the CBI’s plea and remanded Kansal in police (CBI) custody till Friday.
