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| New Delhi |
Last Updated: October 25, 2018 5:17:37
Outside the residence of Alok Verma in New Delhi, a few hours after leaving on leave. (Photo Express / Prem Nath Pandey)
Transferring IWC Director Alok Verma and Special Director Rakesh Asthana in the middle of an unprecedented quarrel within the agency, the government said it did after reviewing documents and "in the interest of equality, fair play and the principles of natural justice ".
However, an analysis of the mutations of 14 officers ordered by the agency on Wednesday – after taking over by Acting Director M Nageshwar Rao – shows that officers suspected of being close to Verma have been sidelined. And those who are considered close to Asthana have important responsibilities.
The reshuffle is due to the marginalization of co-director (Policy) AK Sharma, who worked closely with Verma. The (political) co-director is an important position in the IWC – at least two of his predecessors have become IWC directors.
Read also | Alok Verma sent on leave: no formal procedure, cancel the order, says CBI Director at SC
Sharma led the key anti-corruption unit III (AC III). Verma had given him important cases that removed them from the Asthana team. Almost all of the unit was disbanded as part of the transfers.
Sharma himself has been transferred to the moribund department of the agency, the Multi-Disciplinary Monitoring Agency (MDMA). The only case of this department – investigation of the biggest conspiracy behind the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi – has not yet come to a conclusion.
Ironically, Asthana and Sharma both belong to Gujarat executives and have enjoyed important positions during the ministerial mandate of Narendra Modi in the state.
Sharma is not the only one to deal with the cold.
Read also | Seven key files on the table of director Alok Verma when he was asked to surrender
Consider this:
* MP SP Ajay Kumar Bassi from Sharma's Anti-Corruption III Unit was transferred to the IWC office in Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar. * Another MP, Ashwani Gupta, AK Sharma's staff officer, was referred to his Intelligence Bureau senior team.
Sharma had instructed both officers to investigate the marriage of Rakesh Asthana's daughter to Vadodara in 2016.
And Asthana, in a recent letter to the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), alleged that these officers had "dubious integrity" and were sent as part of a "traveling inquiry" to Vadodara in order to put in touch with the Sandesara family, the main defendant in the Sterling Biotech case.
* Anish Prasad is another key transfer. Prasad was the DIG of the SU-1 unit (Surveillance). The SU unit is CBI's intelligence wing. It is associated with electronic monitoring and surveillance. Prasad has been transferred to the Department of Administration and Personnel where he will be Deputy Director.
In July, Prasad was at the center of a fight between Asthana and Verma when the latter dismounted and assured the return of Prasad from Tripura.
In her letter to CVC regarding her daughter's marriage investigation, Asthana claimed that the IWC was immersed in her personal space and was spying on the conversations of her family members.
DIG K R Chaurasia, head of the Economic Crimes Unit-1, who recommended in 2013 to question Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the scam, was in charge of the Prasad Department.
Alok Verma Tuesday. (Photo Express / Tashi Tobgyal)
* An additional number of SP S S Gurn of AC III, considered close to Sharma, has been transferred to Jabalpur.
* MMK Sinha, AC III DIG and the Banking and Securities Fraud Cell (BSFC), which operated under A Sharma and was investigating key cases of bank loan frauds such as swindle of PNB, was returned from headquarters to the Nagpur office.
Read also | Arun Jaitley says the opposition had to be fair
On the other hand, the officers associated with Asthana have been transferred with relatively larger assignments.
* Asthana's Special Investigation Team (SIT) made a key reassignment of Deputy Director A Sai Manohar. He has been appointed co-director of the Chandigarh area, but according to the transfer orders, he will continue to stay at IWC headquarters in Delhi and will assume the additional responsibility for SIT and TFC area (technical analysis and coordination) "in the public interest ".
* Dy SP Devender Kumar, who was arrested by Sharma's team in connection with the agency's recent confidential information statement against Rakesh Asthana, is part of SIT.
Sai Manohar was deputy director (political) when Asthana was acting director of the agency. He is known to have drafted the vigilance report of one of the officers whose Alok Verma had recommended inclusion in the CBI during his early days at the agency's management. According to this report, the agent was not inducted into the agency.
It is this incident that laid the foundation for the showdown between Verma and Asthana.
* Amit Kumar, economic crime unit of the DIG III, was also appointed deputy director (Politics), position held by Sharma before its release. Amit Kumar previously worked under Asthana and was investigating cases of charcoal scams.
* Mr K Sinha was replaced in AC III by Tarun Gauba, DIG ACB Chandigarh. Gauba investigated the swindle in Vyapam in which MP CM Shivraj Chauhan received a blank ballot.
Other key transfers include that of Co-Director (CA II) V Murugesan, who was further indicted for Branch I and Economic Offenses II. Satish Dagar, from Economic Crimes Group III, was also transferred to AC III as an SP. Dagar investigated the case Gurmeet Ram Rahim, which resulted in a conviction. It's this team, including Tarun Gauba, who will investigate the FIR against Asthana.
DIG (Special Crime) Jasbir Singh, who worked under the direction of Acting Director, Nageshwar Rao, was indicted by BSFC, previously under Sharma. DIG Ram Gopal, from the Special Crime Branch (Chandigarh), was also charged with ACB Chandigarh.
A source said: "The reshuffle was done in such a way that the effective control of the agency remains in the hands of Asthana."
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