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Before the Delhi Police broke the quiet at Lodhi Road building on Tuesday night, a series of hectic events in the nearby Lutyens Delhi since afternoon culminated in a coup at India’s premier investigating agency where its No. 1 Alok Verma and No. 2 Rakesh Asthana had been at each other’s throat for several months. A few days ago, Verma had ordered an FIR against Asthana who then moved court for protection from arrest. An official who worked with Asthana was arrested.
The midnight high drama had its origin in a flurry of meetings held by a watchdog, a cabinet panel and ministry bureaucrats in quick succession. Members of the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) met in the afternoon to consider the goings-on at the CBI. After the meeting, the CVC informed the government that corruption allegations levelled by Asthana against CBI head Verma were serious and Verma was not cooperating with the CVC, says a TOI report. It recommended that Verma and Asthana be divested of all powers and an independent team probe the allegations levelled by Asthana against Verma.
The CVC recommendations would echo hours later at the 10th and 11th floors of the Lodhi Road building, the top floors reserved for the CBI head honchos. The Appointment Committee of the Cabinet met to ratify the CVC recommendation after which the Department of Personnel and Training issued orders sending Verma and Asthana on leave. The orders were delivered to both the officers at home by special messengers around midnight.
That’s when the Delhi Police cordoned off the Lodhi Road building. Escorted by a Delhi Police convoy, the newly appointed interim head, M Nageswar Rao, reached the building immediately. He quickly made for the top floors from where senior officials of the CBI work. After taking charge as the CBI head, Rao sealed off the offices of both Verma and Asthana on the 11th floor. Then he took custody of the offices on the 10th floor.
According to an Indian Express report, Rao found a lot of “works-in-progress” in Verma’s office. The documents found on Verma’s desk related to a Rafale deal complaint, the Medical Council of India bribery case, the coal mine allocation case allegedly involving IAS officer Bhaskar Khulbe, and an investigation into the Sterling Biotech case in which Special Director Rakesh Asthana’s alleged role is being probed. Though it was past midnight, Rao’s day had just started. He wasted no time in moving on to the next step — shuffling 13 officers and changing investigating officers in several cases. While joint director (policy) A K Sharma, who had sided with Verma in the whole feud, was shifted as Joint Director MDMA (multi-disciplinary monitoring agency, which is looking to Rajiv Gandhi badbadination), DIG Manoj Kumar Sinha was shunted out to Nagpur, and investigating officer – DSP Ajay Kumar Bbadi to Port Blair, according to a TOI report.
In the morning, Verma and Asthana were barred from entering the building, according to a report. Their drivers too were withdrawn. Verma moved the Supreme Court a few hours later terming his benching illegal. The search on the 10th and 11th floors continued till afternoon.
(This article has been compiled from information gathered from multiple reported accounts in the media)
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