Sting CD testifies criminal conspiracy to topple U’khand govt, says Rawat

Trouble is brewing for deposed Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat as Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is likely to issue notice to Rawat and former State Cabinet Minister Harak Singh Rawat in connection with sting operation video case for further investigation.

However, Rawat on Saturday asked Uttarakhand Governor KK Paul to take cognisance of sting CD against him as it carries enough evidence to prove there was a “criminal conspiracy” by BJP and Congress “backstabbers” to topple an elected government.

Rawat said he has been ready for any probe from day one as he knows he is innocent but the “so-called sting CD should be investigated in entirety and not in bits and pieces.”

The CBI has initiated its preliminary investigations into the sting operation in which Rawat was purportedly seen talking to middlemen in a bid to strike a deal with rebel Congress MLAs.

The agency questioned the journalist allegedly involved in the sting operation at its headquarters in New Delhi on Friday as part of its preliminary enquiry.

Claiming that he was innocent, he said the CD was made to “malign him – a fact corroborated by its timing exactly six months before the state was to go to polls.”

However, he said he was ready for any probe and will cooperate with any impartial inquiry into the sting CD.