INX media case: Karti Chidambaram confronted with Indrani, Peter Mukerjea at Mumbai's Byculla Jail, claims innocence

Delhi: Karti Chidambaram, the son of former Union minister and veteran Congress leader P Chidambaram, was on Sunday taken to the Byculla Central Jail for questioning in the INX Media alleged bribery case.

Karti was taken to Mumbai in an Air India flight around 8 am by the CBI, which is probing the case.

Upon reaching the Byculla Central jail, Karti was made to face Indrani and Peter Mukerjea - the ex-directors of INX Media Ltd. 

Karti is accused of allegedly receiving Rs 3.5 crore from the Mumbai-based INX Media, now known as 9X Media, for helping it get Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance in 2007, when it was run by Peter and Indrani - both accused in the Sheena Bora murder case.

Indrani Mukerjea had recently admitted before a magistrate that Karti had met her in a Delhi hotel and demanded USD 1 million in bribe for the FIPB clearance.

However, while being taken back to Delhi from Mumbai, Karti Chidambaram said that all allegations levelled against him are ''baseless and politically motivated.''   

All allegations against me are false and politically motivated: #KartiChidambram being brought back to Delhi from Mumbai by CBI #INXMediaCase pic.twitter.com/I9TqoCvi8l — ANI (@ANI) March 4, 2018

A CBI court had on March 1 sent Karti Chidambaram to a five-day custody till March 6.

''Before his custody gets over, the CBI wants to collect all evidence against him," ANI quoted a CBI source as saying.

In May 2017, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had registered a money laundering case against Karti for his role in facilitating Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance for INX Media Ltd and Peter and Indrani.

Karti illegally took service charges for getting the FIPB clearance to the INX Media for receiving funds from abroad worth Rs. 305 crore in 2007 when his father P Chidambaram was the finance minister in the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.  

He was arrested on Wednesday from the Chennai airport soon after he landed from London.

(With Agency inputs)