CBI 'books' its Special Director in bribery case

The Central Bureau of Investigation has charged its own Special Director Rakesh Asthana with accepting bribe to settle a case of meat exporter Moin Qureshi who is facing multiple cases of money laundering and corruptionThough the CBI was tightlipped over whether it has lodged any FIR naming its Number 2 officer after the agencys Director Alok Verma multiple sources within the agency and in the government did not rule out the possibilityBoth Verma and Asthana could not be reached for commentAsthana a 1984 batch Indian Police Service officer of Gujarat cadre is accused of accepting a bribe of Rs 2 crore from a businessman who was under probe in the Qureshi case in order to wreck the investigation The case was being examined by a special investigation team SIT headd by AsthanaSources said the CBI lodged the FIR earlier this week after the arrest of a middleman Manoj Kumar who has given a confessional statement before a magistrate confirming the payment of Rs 2 crore to AsthanaManoj has reportedly admitted that he had paid the bribe on behalf of Qureshi who is being probed by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate ED on charges of money laundering for a host of public servants Qureshi was arrested by the ED in August last year under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering ActApart from Asthana the CBI has also named Samant Kumar Goel Special Director of Indias external intelligence agency RAW but not an accusedThe latest move is another indication of the escalating internal war within the CBIs top officials Verma and AsthanaEarlier Asthana had filed a complaint against the CBI Director accusing him of interfering in the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation corruption case involving family members of Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Lalu PrasadSubsequently in a press statement the agency had denied Asthanas charges against the CBI Director and asserted that the Special Director himself was under probe in halfadozen cases and was trying to intimidate officials who were probing his roleHighprofile investigator Asthana enjoyed a clout in the CBI as most highprofile cases involving politicians were handled by him These include graft charges against Lalu Prasad former Union minister Chidambaram and his son Karti and the AgustaWestland chopper dealThe fight between them has raged for several months with Verma allegedly seeking to block Asthanas elevation as special director on the ground that the latter was being probed in some cases The Central Vigilance Commission CVC however brushed aside the objection saying that the charges against Asthana were not substantial a decision which was later upheld by the Supreme CourtThe rift came out in the open once again when the CBI Director objected to the CVC calling Asthana as the CBIs representative for a meeting when the former was abroad on an official tripCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Except for the change in headline the story has been provided ASIS AS AVAILABLE without any verification or editing from our side Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever