In a first, CBI books own special director for graft
New Delhi, Oct. 21: In an unprecedented move, the CBI has booked its second in command, Rakesh Asthana, on the allegations of receiving bribe from an accused probed by him in a case linked to meat exporter Moin Qureshi — a charge levelled by the officer on CBI Director Alok Verma in his complaint to the Cabinet Secretary two months ago.
The CBI registered the case — FIR RC 13(A) of 2018 — against CBI Special Director Asthana on October 15 on the basis of a complaint from Satish Sana of Hyderabad, facing probe in the 2017 case allegedly involving meat exporter Moin Qureshi, alleging the officer had allegedly helped him to get a clean chit. The CBI has also arrested Manoj Prasad, believed to be a middleman, when he returned from Dubai on October 16.
The agency has, however, maintained a silence on the issue. It is alleged by Mr Sana that Prasad and his brother Somesh had taken money to arrange clean chit to him. The team is also probing the Qureshi case.
New Delhi, Oct. 21: In an unprecedented move, the CBI has booked its second in command, Rakesh Asthana, on the allegations of receiving bribe from an accused probed by him in a case linked to meat exporter Moin Qureshi - a charge levelled by the officer on CBI Director Alok Verma in his complaint to the Cabinet Secretary two months ago.
Gujarat-cadre IPS officer Asthana, who is heading the Special Investigating Team handling crucial cases such as AgustaWestland chopper scam and loan fraud by business tycoon Vijay Mallya.
Asthana in an exhaustive letter to the Cabinet Secretary on August 24 had given a list of 10 instances of alleged corruption by Verma in which it was alleged that Sana paid the CBI chief `2 crore to get clean chit in the case, government sources said.
This complaint was referred to the Central Vigilance Commission which is probing the matter, they said.
Asthana has again written to the Central Vigilance Commissioner on October 19 -four days after the FIR was registered -- informing him that he wanted to arrest and interrogate Sana for which a proposal was sent to the Director on September 20, 2018, they said.
In the letter, he has also referred to his communication to Cabinet Secretary on August 24 in which details of alleged irregularities against the Director were given.
He said the Director allegedly held the file for nearly four days and marked to the Director of Prosecution (DoP) on September 24, 2018 who demanded all evidence available on record, the sources said.