CBI officials scale wall to enter Chidambaram's residence
New Delhi, Aug 21: High drama unfolded at former finance minister P Chidambaram's residence at the tony Jor Bagh colony here on Wednesday night as a team of CBI officials scaled the boundary wall of his bungalow to gain entrance while another team tried to make way through the backdoor.
Chidambaram, whose whereabouts were not known soon after Delhi High Court rejected his anticipatory bail plea on Tuesday afternoon in corruption cases, made a surprise appearance at Congress party's Headquarters where he addressed made a brief statement to media professing his innocence.
Some Congress workers had gathered outside the AICC headquarters and raised slogans against the CBI and the Government. They later reached the residence of Chidambaram where they continued the sloganeering.
Flanked by senior Supreme Court lawyers and senior party colleagues Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Manu Singhvi, he then drove to his residence nearly 10 minutes away from the Congress office.
On his trail were CBI and ED officials. A CBI team reached his Jor Bagh residence 115-A within minutes of his return.
With a big media contingent beaming live images of the developments, the CBI team first knocked the gates to gain entry but finding no response, they nimbly scaled the nearly five-ft high walls to gain entry.
Once three officers reached inside, they opened the gates to allow other team members waiting outside. Soon a team of officers, identifying themselves as from ED, too arrived at the scene.
Delhi Police personnel were also posted to prevent any adverse law and order situation.
Meanwhile, another small team of officials rushed to the backdoor to secure all entry and exit points of the bungalow.
A team of about two dozen officials was present at the bungalow with Chidambaram being inside with Sibal and Singhvi.
The CBI officials refused to comment whether they had come to arrest or interrogate Chidambaram.
The agency had been seeking Chidambaram's "custodial interrogation" in the case pertaining to alleged irregularities in the grant of foreign investment clearances to INX Media when he was the finance minister.
They said Chidambaram was summoned last year for questioning in the case but he remained evasive in his responses.
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday refused to grant P Chidambaram any protection from arrest by rejecting his plea seeking anticipatory. Swinging into action after the high court order, a team of CBI officers landed at the Jor Bagh residence here to locate him but he was not present.
The agency officials returned after pasting a notice at his residence on Tuesday night asking him to be present before the investigation officer of the case within two hours. Chidambaram did not appear before them.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has listed Chidambaram's petition on Friday without giving him any interim relief in the matter.
The CBI had registered an FIR on May 15, 2017, alleging irregularities in the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance granted to the INX media group for receiving overseas funds of Rs 305 crore in 2007 during Chidambaram's tenure as finance minister.
Thereafter, the ED lodged a money laundering case in this regard in 2018.
In conclusion he was taken to CBI headquarters by a team of officials.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
