Former CBI chief Joginder Singh who probed Bofors scam passes away

Former CBI chief Joginder Singh, who oversaw investigation of several high-profile cases including Bofors scam and Bihar’s fodder scam, died on Friday aged 77 years. Former Member of Parliament Manish Tewari broke the news on twitter.

“Former Director of the CBI-Sardar Joginder Singh is no more. May God Rest his soul in peace. Cremation 4-2-17,1 PM Lodhi Crematorium N.Delhi,” he said.

Family sources said he breathed his last today after prolonged illness.

The 1961 batch IPS officer of Karnataka cadre was chosen to head the premier investigative agency when H D Deve Gowda was the Prime Minister.

Singh, who joined Police Service at the age of 20, rose to take charge of CBI on July 31, 1996 when it was probing a large number of sensitive cases including Bofors, fodder scam, securities scam, the JMM MPs bribery scandal, Rs 133 crore urea scam, telecom deals by the then Union minister Sukh Ram, among others.

A prolific writer, Singh, penned over 25 books on various subjects after retiring from the service.

The ever outspoken officer who never hid his views on the functioning of CBI and corruption in the country, Singh had told The Hindu in an interview that many temptations were thrown at him when the agency was probing the fodder scam in which two former chief ministers of Bihar Lalu Prasad and Jagannath Mishra, besides a host of politicians and bureaucrats were allegedly involved.

In the interview, he fondly admitted to being a “South Indian by adoption” as he chose Mysore Academy (now Karnataka cadre) while joining Police service in the 1960s.