Sonia, Manmohan reach Tihar to meet Chidambaram

New Delhi: Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday arrived at Tihar jail here to meet former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, who has been imprisoned since September 5 in INX Media related case.

This is for the first time that Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh has visited the jail premises to meet any party leader lodged there.

Chidambaram has been lodged in Jail No. 7 of the Tihar jail, which is meant for economic offenders.

The former Union Minister was sent to judicial custody by a Delhi court after his arrest on August 21 by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for alleged irregularities in granting Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance of Rs 305 crore to INX media, now known as 9x news, during his tenure as the Finance Minister.

Chidambaram is also being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in money laundering case relating to INX media.

The Congress had accused the BJP-led central government of indulging in political vendetta.