Bugging row: Former CBDT chairman Chandra questioned by IB

New Delhi (PTI) - Former Indian Central Board of
Direct Taxes (CBDT) chairman Sudhir Chandra has been
questioned by the Intelligence Bureau over his role in hiring
private detectives in sweeping clear the rooms of Indian
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and his staff after
detection of "plated adhesives" in 16 key locations.
During the questioning on Thursday, IB sleuths asked
Chandra, who was then Member (Investigations) in the CBDT, why
private detectives were called before informing the IB to
inspect the plated "bugs" in the Ministry of Finance, official
sources said.
When contacted, Chandra denied that he has been
quizzed by anyone, saying at the time of reported "bugging" he
was not the chairman of CBDT and he had no role in hiring
private detectives.
An inquiry is also on to find out the name of the
private detective agency which carried out the debugging
exercise in the Indian Ministry of Finance.
"It is not a formal inquiry but discreetly the
investigators are trying to find out the name and the findings
of that agency," the sources said.
After the detection of "planted adhesives" in 16 key
locations in the offices of the Finance Minister, his advisor
Omita Paul, his private secretary Manoj Pant and two
conference rooms, Mukherjee wrote a letter to Indian Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh asking him to order a "secret inquiry"
into what he called "serious breach of security" in his
office.
Before the IB was asked by the Prime Minister to look
into the matter, private detectives were called to conduct an
"electronic sweep" on the Ministry's chambers.
Mukherjee last week had said that during its inquiry,
the IB has found "nothing".