As war between 1 and 2 hots up, CBI backs its director
New Delhi, Oct 22: The CBI tried to defend its Director Alok Verma following allegations of corruption levelled against him by his deputy Rakesh Asthana, charged by the agency with bribery charges last week, saying they are "false and malicious".
In his letters to the Cabinet Secretary and Central Vigilance Commission, Asthana had written about 10 cases of alleged corruption and irregularities against the CBI Director Alok Verma, levelling serious corruption charges in some of them.
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One of the case pertained to Sathish Sana, a businessman facing probe in a corruption case involving meat exporter Moin Qureshi in which Asthana had alleged on August 24 that Satish Sana paid Rs. two crore to Verma to get relief in the case.
Asthana had also alleged that Verma delayed his team's request to arrest Satish Sana in the case.
The complaint was referred to Central Vigilance Commission by the government which is looking into it.
Gujarat-cadre officer Rakesh Asthana, currently number two in the CBI, has also cited instances of alleged irregularities and violation of rules and regulations against Verma.
In an unprecedented operation, the CBI registered an FIR against Asthana and his Deputy Superintendent of Police Devender Kumar, and two alleged middlemen Somesh Prasad and Manoj Prasad on the basis of a statement from Sana that bribe was paid to the middlemen to get relief in repeated questioning by the Asthana's Special Investigation Unit.
Asthana had alleged that he had moved a file for the arrest of Satish Sana on September 20, 2018 which was held by the CBI Director Alok Verma and was later referred to Director of Prosecution who demanded the evidence file.
He
had
alleged
that
it
was
his
team
which
opened
a
Look
Out
Circular
(LOC)
against
Satish
Sana
who
was
stopped
at
immigration
and
prevented
from
fleeing
the
country.
In
a
late
night
statement,
CBI
spokesperson
said
allegations
that
Director
CBI
was
not
aware
of
LOC
issued
against
Satish
Sana
is
incorrect.
"DCBI
had
seen
and
ratified
the
proposal
to
issue
LOC
on
May
21,
2018,"
he
said.
The
spokesperson
said
contention
that
Director
CBI
made
an
attempt
to
stop
Satish
Sana's
arrest
is
false
and
malicious.
"The
allegation
has
been
made
to
deflect
the
charge
of
receipt
of
bribe
money
by
CBI
Special
Director
Rakesh
Asthana
and
the
other
public
servant
named
in
the
FIR,"
he
said.
The
agency
FIR
is
based
on
allegations
levelled
by
Satish
Sana,
who
was
facing
CBI
charges,
before
magistrate
under
section
164
of
the
CrPC.
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The statement attached in the FIR does not make any mention of any direct meeting or call between Asthana and Satish Sana or any direct and confirmed interaction between the two.
"Satish Sana was called to the CBI for examination/inquiry on multiple occasions in October/November, 2017. During October/November, 2017, there were four instances in which notices were given to Sana. In order to get relief from frequent notices, Satish Sana approached one Manoj Prasad in Dubai in the month of December, 2017," the spokesperson said.
He claimed Rs. 2.95 crores was paid to the public servants through Manoj Prasad and Somesh Prasad and Satish Sana was able to obtain relief in the on-going investigation in the Moin Qureshi case.
Subsequently, there were no notices issued to him till mid of February, 2018, the spokesman said.
He said on February 19, 2018, again notice was issued to Satish Sana who flew to Dubai and met Manoj Prasad.
"Subsequently,
there
were
no
notices
issued
till
end
of
May/early
June,
2018,"
he
said.
The
spokesperson
claimed
that
an
LOC
was
issued
to
prevent
Satish
Sana's
escape
from
the
country
on
May
16
(by
the
team
of
Asthana
which
was
probing
the
matter).
On the basis of LOC, Satish Sana was stopped from going abroad by immigration office at Hyderabad on September 24 on the basis of the Look Out Circular.
"Subsequently, he was called by investigation officer on October 1, 2018 and again on October 3. Faced with continued harassment, Sana got his statement recorded with the Magistrate Court regarding the entire transaction," he said.
Satish Sana also contacted Manoj Prasad to get relief from appearance due on October 9, which was promised by Manoj. He had promised to obtain relief till 25th as requested by Satish Sana, the spokesman said.
"This relief was obtained with the promise of payment of Rs. 2 crore, of which, Rs. 25 lakh was paid on October 10, 2018," he said.
Manoj Prasad was caught on 16th October when he came to India to get the remaining Rs. 1.75 crore, the spokesperson alleged.
"On 20th, Satish Sana once again recorded his statement with the concerned court corroborating the facts he mentioned in the complaint," he said.