Nambiar’s election raises eyebrows

NEW DELHI: Chargesheeted in multi-crore defence scam, Ramesh Nambiar has been elected unopposed to Hockey India as one of its joint-secretaries even before the elections have been held.

This has raised eyebrows in hockey circles with many officials saying it is symbolic of the state of hockey in India.

Nambiar, an Air India general manager, was named in the CBI chargesheet in the OFB (ordnance factory board) scam, in which Nambiar, former OFB chairman Sudipta Ghosh and several others were arrested. Nambiar and others spent several weeks in jail before they were granted bail.

On June 30, CBI filed its chargesheet in the court of the special CBI judge, Kolkata. The chargesheet names Ghosh, Nambiar among others, besides some defence firms. Nambiar is alleged to have facilitated transfer of illegal payment between defence firms and various individuals.

Nambiar was suspended by Air India but sources say he was reinstated. Nambiar made it through even before the elections as out of six contestants for four posts, only two are male.