CBI DSP, middleman remanded to 14-day judicial custody

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court Tuesday remanded CBI DSP Devender Kumar and middleman Manoj Prasad, arrested in connection with bribery allegations involving the agency’s Special Director Rakesh Asthana, to 14-day judicial custody.

A special CBI court sent them to jail after the agency said both the accused were not required for further custodial interrogation.

During the hearing, Kumar, who was produced after the expiry of his seven-day custodial interrogation, told the court the agency was tampering with and fabricating evidence in the case against him.

He submitted that a case of theft and extortion should be lodged against CBI officials probing the case.

The FIR in the current case was lodged from a written complaint from businessman Satish Sana on October 15. It was alleged that Kumar, being the IO in the case against meat exporter Moin Qureshi, was repeatedly calling the complainant to the CBI office to harass him and compel him to pay a bribe of Rs 5 crore.

The complaint had also said that Sana paid a part of the bribe.

The Supreme Court Tuesday directed the Hyderabad Police to provide adequate security to businessman Satish Sana, a complainant in the alleged bribery case against CBI Special Director Rakesh Asthana.

Interim CBI Chief M Nageswara Rao Tuesday denied any irregularities in the investments made by his wife in a private company.

The bench also took note of a fresh petition filed by CBI DSP A K Bassi, who was earlier the investigating officer in the case lodged against Asthana.

NEW DELHI: CBI Deputy SP AK Bassi, a former probe officer in the alleged corruption case against the agency’s Special Director Rakesh Asthana, moved the Supreme Court Tuesday against his transfer.

Bassi in his plea said his transfer to Andaman and Nicobar Islands on October 24 is “mala fide and derails a sensitive probe” and added that allegations against Asthana are “grave”.

A bench of CJI Ranjan Gogoi and justices U U Lalit and K M Joseph said “it will look into urgent listing of the plea” after advocate Sunil Fernandes sought listing of the petition on November 2.

In his plea, Bassi claimed the transfer order is “vitiated by mala fide, and interference in the fair and impartial investigation of pending case(s) and intended to penalise and victimise an officer for his honesty and integrity”.

The plea, filed through advocate Fernandes, said that Bassi is also aggrieved by the actions taken after his transfer, whereby not only the course of the investigation of a highly sensitive case, investigated by him is sought to be influenced.

“Bassi bears a reasonable apprehension that he and his team members and senior officers, would be implicated in the same,” it said.