Delhi court expressed displeasure on CBI probe and clean chit to Rakesh Asthana and DSP Devender Kumar in a bribery and extortion case.
New Delhi| A Delhi court on Wednesday expressed displeasure over the Central Bureau of Investigation’ s probe into a bribery case involving its former Special Director Rakesh Asthana and questioned why the accused with a bigger role in the case was roaming free while the CBI arrested its own DSP.
“Why are certain accused who seem to have a bigger role in the case were roaming free while the CBI arrested its own DSP?” Special CBI Judge Sanjeev Aggarwal asked.
The agency, however, summoned alleged middleman Manoj Prasad as an accused in the case and said that the probe against his brother — Somesh Prasad – and one Sunil Mittal is yet to be concluded.
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“There is a lot of evidence against Someshwar, but you haven’t arrested him. You have arrested the weakest person, Manoj Prasad,” the court said.
The court put the matter for further consideration on February 19.
The CBI registered the case against Asthana on the basis of a complaint from Hyderabad-based businessman Satish Sana, facing probe in a 2017 case involving meat exporter Moin Qureshi.
The case dates back to 2017, when the CBI had registered an FIR on the directions of Verma, who was then agency’s director, alleging a suspect in the Moin Qureshi case had been forced to pay Rs 2.95 crore to Asthana through the Prasad brothers to water down the case against him.
The suspect, Sathish Sana Babu, was made a witness in the case by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
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