War within CBI; special director booked for accepting bribe
In August, Asthana had alleged that it was CBI chief Verma who took the bribe of Rs two crore
New Delhi: The turf war between the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) Director Alok Verma and Special Director Rakesh Asthana turned ugly on Monday with the investigation agency booking Asthana for accepting Rs three crore bribe to sabotage probe in a corruption case.
CBI named Asthana and Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) rank CBI officer Devender Kumar in a bribery case related to businessman Sathish Sana whose name emerged during investigation in the ongoing case of controversial meat exporter Moin Qureshi.
CBI’s First Information Report (FIR) against Asthana, a Gujarat cadre officer, is based on the claims of Sana, who admitted to the agency that he was asked to pay an overall bribe of Rs50 million (Dh2.49 million) to Asthana to get rid of the case.
Sana, a Dubai-based businessman, was being probed by the CBI for his connection with meat exporter Qureshi, who has been on the radar of multiple agencies for allegedly channelling illegal money through London and other places in Europe.
According to the FIR, Manoj Prasad, an investment banker based in Dubai, was hired by Sana to pay the bribe to Asthana. On October 16, Prasad was arrested by CBI’s Anti-Corruption Unit when he came to India to deliver the agreed bribe.
“Manoj Prasad has admitted paying bribe to Mr. Rakesh Asthana. Sathish Sana also told the judicial magistrate that he had paid Rs. three crore as bribe to Mr Rakesh Asthana over a 10-month period from December last year,” the FIR stated.
However, in August this year, Asthana had alleged that it was CBI chief Verma who took the bribe of Rs two crore from Sana. He had complained to Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) accusing Verma of trying to interfere in a corruption case involving family members of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Lalu Prasad Yadav.
On Monday, CBI described these allegations against its Director as “false and malicious.”
CBI stated that since Asthana was facing probe in six cases by CBI, including accepting bribes from controversial Sandesara Group and jailed journalist Upendra Rai, he filed frivolous cases against Verma.
Interestingly, apart from Asthana, intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing’s (Raw) second senior most officer Samant Kumar Goel also allegedly tried to facilitate closing of the case against Qureshi.
A special CBI team has recorded the statement of Goel, who currently holds the rank of Additional Secretary in Raw. According to FIR, Goel and Qureshi used to meet in Dubai frequently.
On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval were briefed about the developments of the case.
CBI Director Verma moved files to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) recommending suspension of Asthana. Raw chief AK Dhasmana also recommended suspension of Goel from service.
The case took a political twist with Congress president Rahul Gandhi targeting PM Modi for the agency’s infighting.
“The government is making CBI a weapon of political vendetta. The PM’s blue-eyed boy, Gujarat cadre officer, infiltrated as No 2 into the CBI, and has now been caught taking bribes. Under Modi’s watch, the CBI is now an institution in terminal decline that is at war with itself,” Gandhi tweeted.