2G trial: CBI witness cracks, claims threat to life

Betraying for the first time the immense pressure he is under, key CBI witness in the 2G case Aseervartham Achary broke down in court today, shouting out uncontrollably that the man who had tried to kill him had been present in the courtroom. “The person who tried to kill me has just left this courtroom…this is a question of my life, the life of my wife and child,” Achary said. Achary grew increasingly agitated as he tried to describe the man who he claimed had tried to kill him on previous occasions and asked that the man be immediately apprehended. The 42-year-old additional private secretary to former Telecom Minister A Raja sought the permission of the judge to put before the special CBI court information that he said “affects his life”. [caption id=“attachment_163486” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Achary told the court that his PSO looked for the visitor at both gates of the residential block but couldn’t find him. Reuters”]  [/caption] Achary told the court that on the evening of 8 August, 2011, his Private Security Officer (Achary is provided security by the Delhi Police) informed him that a person who was claiming to be Achary’s relative had tried to enter the house. “The PSO told me that when he asked the visitor his name, the visitor asked him who he was. On being informed that he was a security officer, the visitor became tense,” Achary told the court. The visitor, Achary further informed the court, told his PSO that he was related to him (Achary) and that his family members were arriving in a car. “The PSO told him that unless he spoke to me on the phone and was permitted to come inside he won’t permit him…the visitor requested for water from the PSO…by the time the PSO turned towards the entrance, he had disappeared.” Achary told the court that his PSO looked for the visitor at both gates of the residential block but couldn’t find him. “The PSO told me that the visitor was a North Indian and spoke the local dialect. On hearing this, my family became tense.” Achary told the court that he went to the CBI office on September 5, 2011, to hand over a written complaint about the attempted break-in. Achary went on to relate a second incident that took place on September 2, three days before going the CBI office, about a call he received from his previous house-owner, Yogesh, telling him that a person named Chauhan who claimed to be from the CBI was asking if he (Achary) was living in the apartment concerned. “Mr Yogesh asked him as to why he was asking this question, to which Chauhan said that I had applied for voluntary retirement from the Railway Board and that he had come to inquire whether to give clearance or not.” Achary placed on record of the court his complaint to the CBI. The dramatic scenes in the courtroom left the defence team and other members present in court stunned. Senior lawyer Sushil Kumar, who is defending Raja in the case, who had just begun his cross-examination of Achary when the commotion broke out was seen sitting with his head in his hands. The defence lawyers were in a scramble trying to identify who Achary was referring to. Within the hour, the man was apprehended by the police and produced before the special CBI judge. When asked by the judge who he was, the man, dressed in a dull-green sweater told the court that he was an office boy who had came to the 2G court to run errands for Gautam Doshi and Hari Nair – two of the three top Reliance executives accused in the 2G case. The judge then asked Surendra Pipara – the third Reliance executive accused in the 2G case – and he confirmed that the man was indeed a Reliance office boy. The man who was apprehended, however, told the court that he had never seen Achary before and was innocent. Achary also confirmed to the court that this was man that his PSO had identified to him as the man who had tried to enter his house on August 20th. “I have not seen him myself. My PSO has identified to me that this is the man who was claiming to be my relative and had tried to enter my house on August 20th.” The man, who according to reports is named Jaiprakash, was taken into custody for interrogation by the police. The defence team seemed highly irritated by the turn of events with a senior advocate even telling the judge that the witness was “creating drama in court.” Today was the fourth day of Achary’s cross-examination in the 2G case and the first time since trial began that Raja was participating in the trial. He had so far refused to cross-examine any witness on the grounds that the investigation was ongoing. However, the third and final chargesheet was filed by the CBI on 12 December. According to reports, Jaiprakash has been released by the police and no FIR has been lodged against him as yet.