New Delhi: Two top officials of CBI have been summoned by PM Modi who intends to seek information of the situation directly from the officials.
Prior to this, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) director Alok Verma and its special director and second in- command Rakesh Asthana have arrested its deputy superintendent of police Devender Kumar in connection with an alleged bribery case against Asthana, The Statesman reported.
According to the agency sources, meat exporter Moin Qureshi was arrested by the CBI and Kumar helped forge a statement of Hyderabad-based businessman Sathish Sana who had allegedly bribed him to get relief in Qureshi’s case.
The officials carried out various searches at Kumar’s office and residence on Sunday evening and have recovered mobile phones and iPad that are currently being analyzed, the officials added.
Though Sana was in Hyderabad on 26 September 2018, Kumar had allegedly helped him forge the fact and recorded the statement as was present in Delhi on that particular day.
Sana in his statement had purportedly said that he had in June 2018 discussed his case with the TDP’s Rajya Sabha MP C M Ramesh who, after speaking to the CBI director, had assured him that he would not be summoned again.
“From June onwards, I was not called by the CBI. I was under the impression that investigation against me is complete,” said Sana.
The agency has charged Kumar for allegedly fabricated this statement as an “afterthought…to corroborate the baseless allegations made by Asthana against CBI director Alok Verma to the CVC (Central Vigilance Commissioner)”.
The agency is also probing the alleged role of other members of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by Asthana who is a Gujarat-cadre IPS officer.
Since the agency’s SIT is handling some crucial cases such as the Agusta Westland chopper scam, the bank loan fraud involving fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya, and the Qureshi case.
The CBI had also filed an FIR against Asthana, Kumar, and others including some others for allegedly receiving bribes to give relief to Sana in the Qureshi case.