Former police commissioner George acknowledges Gutkha scam but denies kickbacks

CHENNAI:

Two days after Central Bureau of Investigation raids on his residence, former Chennai Police Commissioner S George on Friday indirectly acknowledged gutkha scam but rejected allegations of receiving kickbacks from gutkha manufacturer.

"There was a gutkha scam. There was some illegal activity going on and how do you expect the Commissioner to know what happens in all 300 police stations, said George while blaming  the then deputy commissioner Jayakumar  with the Chennai Police's Crime branch for failing to bring the issue to his notice.

“Entry in the diary of the gutkha manufacturer AV Madhava Rao listing out the payment of Rs 15 lakh for Christmas to a former Commissioner of Police is based on someone's statement. Why should an ex-commissioner be paid any money,” the former police commissioner told reporters during a hurriedly convened Press conference at his residence.  Interestingly, this comes after CBI has made first breakthrough in the case by arresting five persons after carrying out raids in the house of George, DGP T K Rajendran, Tamil Nadu Health and Family Welfare Minister C Vijay Bhaskar, gutkha manufacturer Madhav Rao and several state and central government officials in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.

Stating that he was not the police commissioner during the dates mentioned in the dairy of gutkha manufacturer, where in it was alleged that money was paid to police officials and politicians, George also said he is not casting aspersions on commissioners who succeeded him. Tamil Nadu director general of police T K Rajendran, J K Tripathi and Ashitosh Shukla held the post of commissioner of police between October 2015 and September 2016.

The former city police chief said someone might have collected the money from the gutkha manufacturer falsely saying that it is for him (George) and entries might have been made in the diary.

George said that at the time when the scam surfaced, it was blown up to prevent him and TK Rajendran from becoming the Director General of Police.

He also said the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is carrying out a probe based on entries made by a gutkha manufacturer.  

To a query on the CBI raids at his home, the former commissioner said that the CBI took only the sale deed of his plot bought from the state housing board, certain lease documents and insurance policies.

Stating that the scam can’t happen with the blessing of the Commissioner of Police, he said there are different levels in the police hierarchy and different periods.

He also claimed he held a preliminary inquiry about the gutkha scam and had written a letter to the state government to conduct a probe citing the rumours of police officials being involved in the scam. “As the allegations were against the Commissioner of Police, it was not possible for him to order a probe but there were several agencies that could have been entrusted with the task,” he said.

On Thursday, the CBI arrested five persons -- three promoters of gutkha manufacturing company Jayam Industries viz Rao, Uma Shankar Gupta and Srinivas Rao; Food Safety Department official Senthil Murugan and Central Excise Superintendent N K Pandian.