Rajendra Kumar, Top Aide To Arvind Kejriwal, Is Like 'Sheshnaag', Claims CBI

New Delhi: Rajendra Kumar, the top aide to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, was like a "sheshnaag" or snake-king, the CBI dramatically informed a court today, alleging that the bureaucrat, who it arrested on Monday, "single-handedly controlled the government."

Mr Kumar, 50, who was the Principal Secretary to Mr Kejriwal, has been accused of misusing his office from 2007 to 2014 to deliver government contracts to a firm which allegedly paid him kickbacks.  Investigators say they also plan to prove that Mr Kumar was a proxy owner of the firm.

The CBI, which brought Mr Kumar to court yesterday, claimed that Mr Kumar had to be arrested because he was intimidating and influencing witnesses to impede the inquiry against him.

Mr Kejriwal and his ministers say the arrest is a shameless exploitation of the CBI by the Centre, which wants to "paralyse" the Delhi government in a long drawn out war over who really controls the capital.

Mr Kumar has denied any wrongdoing; his office in the Delhi government's headquarters was raided in December.

When Mr Kumar allegedly scammed the government, Sheila Dikshit of the Congress was Chief Minister. His arrest is "unlikely to be politically motivated," she said today. Critics including those from Mr Kejriwal's government have asked why Congress leaders like her have not been questioned about the alleged graft given that it took place, according to investigators, on Ms Dikshit's watch.

Mr Kumar and Mr Kejriwal both studied at IITs and was also the latter's main aide during the Chief Minister's infamous 49-day term in 2014.