Did Hooper do an Anderson?

Reminiscent of Union Carbide chief's vanishing act following Bhopal tragedy, Games Federation CEO disappears as corruption probe picks up pace

One is the world's worst industrial disaster; the other is a corruption mess that has few parallels. A comparison between the 1984u00a0Bhopal Gas Tragedy and the 2010 Commonwealth Games scam may seem a bit bizarre. But the conduct of two key players in the aftermath of the incidents is definitely comparable.


Three Wise men: Mike Hooper (extreme right) is the CEO of the Commonwealth Games Federation.

When disaster struck
More than 3,500 people died and thousands more were maimed in the catastrophe that occurred on the night of December 2-3, 1984 in Bhopal. As the Union Carbide CEO, Anderson was charged with manslaughter by Indian authorities. Yet, just four days after the tragedy, Anderson flew out of Bhopal on the official plane of Arjun Singh, who was at the time the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh and then disappeared from India.

This August, more than 25 years later, Singh broke his silence on the issue in the Rajya Sabha, absolving himself and the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi of all responsibility, pointing fingers instead at the Late PV Narasimha Rao, who was the Home Minister at the time. The Congress government at the centre is still making feeble and so far unsuccessful attempts for Anderson's extradition even as the victims of the tragedy await closure.

Corruption in Games
While many people are still wondering what exactly Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) CEO Mike Hooper's role was in holding the mega sporting event, OC sources are of the opinion that his presence in New Delhi at this time was crucial, since multiple government agencies are probing the numerous scams that allegedly occurred during the organisation of the event. More than Rs 70,000 crore were spent on running the event, and projects worth thousands of crores are now under the scanner.

A probe committee led by former Comptroller and Auditor General of India VK Shungloo is in charge of an inquiry, in addition to the Central Bureau of Investigation, Enforcement Directorate, and Central Vigilance Commission investigations already underway.

Where's Hooper?
Yet Mike Hooper has 'gone missing'. Sources in the Organising Committee say, after the completion of the Games as the heat on the OC started mounting, the CGF CEO, silently flew out of India early last week.
"A top OC member got a call from him saying that he was in London. He informed the member about where he has placed the office keys," an Organising Committee official told MiD DAY.

Sources said, he had not informed anybody in the OC about his plans. "If it was a verbal communication with someone in the OC, we do not know, but he has not told anybody officially about plans of leaving India," said a senior OC official.

Apart from helping the government in probing the CWG scams, the Organising Committee is in the process of finalisation of the Games completion report which it has to submit to the CGF. Senior officials have been held back for three months so that investigating agencies could complete their exercise. "He was part of the Games preparations for the past three years and was involved in every key decision. He should have been here to help the OC in the finalisation of the report," said the official.

Deafening silence
When contacted, official spokesperson of the Organising Committee, Lalit Bhanot, refused to comment on the issue. "I do not want to say anything on this," he said, neither denying nor confirming that Hooper has left India.

Phone calls to OC Chairman Suresh Kalmadi and OC CEO Jarnail Singh went unanswered. Officials in OC pointed out that as the media scrutiny over the alleged Games corruption regained focus after the completion of the Games, and the government ordered a probe in to the matter, Hooper might have wanted to keep himself away from the limelight.

Incidentally the names of Hooper and Commonwealth Games Chairman Michael Fennel have been cropping up with respect to some dubious foreign deals for CWG 2010.When contacted Congress Spokesperson Manish Tewari said: "I would not comment on anything as the probe is on."

Delhi BJP Chief, Vijender Gupta who has upped the ante recently against the alleged corruption in the Commonwealth Games said: "He was holding a key post and should have helped the investigating agencies in nailing the culprits. His sudden disappearance and his Indian connection should be probed."

Hooper's last public appearance was an interview to an Australian newspaper this past week, wherein he defended his role in the OC.u00a0 Hooper has received criticism even from New Zealand Olympic Committee president Mike Stanley for his perceived inaction in the lead-up to the Games, but the former was adamant that he has done his job.