NEW DELHI: The axe has fallen on three top investigators of the Central agencies working on the multicore Hawala racket, This happened, it is learnt, after the main accused in the racket, S.K. Jain, told the investigators that one of the beneficiaries of their illegal activities was the Prime Minister, Narasimha Rao, himself and that they had given him Rs two crore. A Government spokesman last week, hotly denied Jain’s allegation.

Jain’s interrogators, Amodh Kant, DIG in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Javed Chaudhary, director in the Enforcement Directorate and D.C. Aggarwal, deputy director (investigations) in the income tax department, have been removed from the job. Kant has been kicked back to his UT cadre, Chaudhary is promoted as additional secretary in the Union Petroleum and Chemicals Ministry and Aggarwal has been pushed to the Research, Statistics and Publication division of the Income Tax department.

So much for the probe where the Supreme Court is at the helm of affairs, It had’ expressly directed’ the investigating agencies to apprise it of all developments in the matter.

Justices I’S. Verma, S.P, Bharucha and S.C. Jain had assured “full protection” to the officials handling the Court. “They are accountable only to the law.” the judocs had held. However, days after the court vacations and after Jain pointed a finger at Rao, the three investigators found themselves attending to other jobs.

While insisting that he gave Rs two crore ioRao, Jain reportedly disclosed during interrogation that he had also met the Prime Minister a number of times.

Sources revealed that the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) was aware of Jain’s accusation. But significantly, added the sources, Rao’s name docs not figure in Jain’s “master diary” that contained the names of’ several of his cabinet ministers, former ministers, Opposition leaders and senior bureaucrats, All| these persons, ao Cording to the diary, collectively received Rs 68 crore of the Hawala money from the accused.

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