CWG OC suspends three officials

Rocked by corruption allegations, the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee on Thursday cracked the whip on tainted officials by suspending three officials, including T S Darbari, a close aid of embattled chairman Suresh Kalmadi, and terminated a multi-crore contract with an Australian company.

The decisions were taken by the OC's all-powerful Executive Board, which met in the wake of the corruption scandals that have engulfed the October 3-14 mega event.

Launching a clean-up operation to restore its credibility, the OC decided to suspend Joint Director General T S Darbari, Deputy Director General Sanjay Mohindroo and M Jaychandran, Joint Director General (Accounts and Finance) for their alleged role in the Queen's Baton Relay in London.

"We have suspended these officals as they were responsible for the delivery and conduct of the Queen Baton's relay in London. We are handing over the case to the Enforcement Directorate for further investigation," OC secretary-general Lalit Bhanot told a press conference.

Bhanot said that the three-member panel probing the allegations of financial irregularities had submitted its report to the OC chairman and the Executive Board discussed their recommendations.

"The Committee members read out their report at the Board meeting and the decisions were taken," Bhanot said.

Bhanot said the resignation of Anil Khanna as treasurer had been accepted by the Executive Board, which has re-appointed senior administrator A K Mattoo to the post.

"With just 60 days left for the Games, we thought of appointing Mattoo for the job as he understands the working of the federation," he said.

Under-fire chairman Kalmadi, who is facing the heat in the wake of the corruption scandals and is isolated within his party, skipped the press conference, leaving Bhanot and Mattoo to face the media.