INX bribe: Karti Chidambaram faces Indrani Mukerjea in Byculla jail

Mumbai: A joint questioning of Karti Chidambaram and Indrani Mukerjea, both accused in the INX Media case, ended on Sunday evening, with the former leaving Mumbai’s Byculla Jail with a defiant gesture to the media claiming “innocence”.

Sources said Karti, son of senior Congress leader and former finance minister P Chidambaram, was brought face-to-face with Indrani, who is lodged inside the Byculla jail and is undergoing trail for allegedly killing her daughter Sheena Bora.

The six-member CBI team landed at Mumbai early in the morning and arrived at the Byculla women’s prison around 11.30 am. A defiant Karti waved at the media after alighting from the SUV, before being whisked away by the officials inside the prison. The prison officials were informed at the last minute about Karti’s visit.

Indrani was brought out of her barrack and confronted with Karti. The session went on for four hours that was video recorded by the CBI officials. They were carrying a camera and tripod with them. The questioning was to ascertain the claims made by Indrani naming Karti and his father over the foreign remittances made by the Mukerjeas to assist Karti and their interest in overseas venture.

The questioning ended around 3.15 pm. The CBI team headed to the airport to return to Delhi. While being whisked away by the CBI officials, Karti said, “I am innocent. The whole case is politically motivated.”

The CBI officials refused to comment on the joint interrogation.  Sources added, “The joint questioning was required before the custody ended. If needed, more joint interrogation will be held again.” The CBI has Karti’s custody till March 6. They arrested him in a corruption case from Chennai airport on Thursday. The arrest came in the backdrop of Indrani’s statement before a Delhi court under section 164 of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).

During her interrogation in the past, Indrani had told the CBI that during the meeting at his office in North Block, New Delhi, Chidambaram had allegedly asked the Mukherjeas to make foreign remittances in a bid to help set up his son Karti’s business, in lieu of the approvals.

Indrani is lodged inside the Byculla prison since 2015 in connection with her daughter’s murder. Indrani had stated that Karti was paid around Rs 7 crore (USD 1 million) for allegedly influencing Foreign Investment Promotion Board to rule in the favour of INX Media’s for their overseas venture. Subsequently, the CBI and Enforcement Directorate also claimed to have found payment vouchers made to Karti’s companies by INX Media. It allegedly bore Peter Mukerjea’s signatures.