The Shiv Sena Saturday termed the ouster of reinstated CBI Director Alok Verma, who resigned from police service Friday, as a panic reaction of the Narendra Modi government which is battling allegations over the purchase of Rafale fighter aircraft. In an editorial in the party mouthpiece "Saamana", the Sena said the government has set "wrong precedents" by denying Verma an opportunity to defend himself and took aim at Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Verma resigned a day after he was transferred from the position of CBI chief to Director General, Fire Service, Civil Defence and Home Guards under the home ministry by a high powered committee headed by the prime minister. He was reinstated as CBI director by the supreme court only on January 8, nearly three months after he and special director Rakesh Asthana were divested of their powers and sent on administrative leave by the government over allegations and counter-allegations of corruption.