Indian police raid homes of top CWG officials

Indian police on Tuesday raided the homes of top officials who organised the Commonwealth Games as part of a probe into graft allegations that surrounded the event.

The Delhi Games organising committee's secretary general, Lalit Bhanot confirmed the raid on his house in New Delhi to AFP and said he denied any wrongdoing.

The committee's offices and the home of its director general, V. K. Verma, were also among the 11 properties searched by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The Games, which were held in the Indian capital in October, were hit by claims of massive financial irregularities as the budget ballooned to an estimated six billion dollars.

Verma also maintained his innocence, telling news channel NDTV that he acted with "due diligence" while awarding contracts in connection with the Games.

The CBI collected paperwork relating to organising committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi during the raids, the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency said.

Kalmadi, who took much of the international criticism about unfinished facilities and poor organisation during the Games, quit as secretary to India's ruling Congress party earlier this month.

Last week, police arrested the sacked treasurer of the organising committee, M. Jayachandran, the third official to be accused of forgery and cheating over the awarding of Games-related contracts.

Police have charged two other former Games officials, organising committee joint director general T. S. Darbari and deputy director general Sanjay Mahendroo over alleged corruption.

Companies contracted to provide sports surfaces, training equipment and landscaping for the Games were also raided by tax inspectors last month.

The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) national watchdog has received complaints alleging up to 1.8 billion dollars of Games money was misappropriated.

A CVC report into the Games has confirmed the use of poor-quality materials and massive cost overruns on construction projects.

A defiant Kalmadi told reporters on Monday that the organising committee was not responsible for the construction projects.

"I have not done anything wrong, even in a single thing. I welcome the investigations and will answer all queries," he said.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh set up a panel last month to investigate corruption claims and two other government bodies are also running separate probes.

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.