NEW DELHI: Investigations into the urea import scandal entered a decisive phase last week with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) summoning P.V. Prabhakar Rao, son of former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, for interrogation, The GBI has, by a notice served on him in Hyderabad, asked Mr. Prabhakar Rao 19 appear before a team of officials am the Rs 133 Crore scandal. ‘The GBI action, which includes slapping a similar notice on Prakash Chandra, son of Ram Lakhan Singh Yadav, minister for fertilizers in the Rao Cabinet, followed a statement made by One of the prime accused in the case by M. Sambasiva Rao.

In his statement for the CBI, M. Sambasiva Rao, who runs the Saikrishna Impex, the firm through which the fraudulent deal was routed, had claimed making part of the slush money 10 Mr. Prabhakar Rao. The development does not mark Mr. Prabhakar Rao’s maiden brush with controversy. His name had figured in the securities scam also, following the allegation that his concern, Goldstar, was favored by the Andhra Bank Financial Services Ltd, one of the seam tainted banking institution. This, however, is the first time that the CBI seems to have taken cognizance of any allegation against him that he exploited his father’s position for self-aggrandizement. In the Goldstar once he was given a clean chit by the CBI.

In a related development, the CBI has sought the help of Interpol for getting information on the destination of a part of Rs 133 Crore, which was lost in the fraudulent deal involving NFL and a Turkish company, Karsan Ltd. CBI sources said that the agency has asked Interpol to carry out probe in Turkey, United States, Dubai and Switzerland.

Mr. Prabhakar Rao has denied his involvement in the NFL deal. “It has become a practice to drag my name into some controversy or the other in the last four years. Irresponsible allegations have been aimed at me many times in the past and each time they were proved baseless,” he said in a statement in Hyderabad last week. In this context, Mr. S. Sanjeeva Rao, brother-in-law of Mr, Rajeshwar Rao, nephew of Mr. Narasimha Rao, and a Rajya Sabha member, has also denied the allegation.

Article extracted from this publication >>  June 12, 1996