CBI Books Special Director Rakesh Asthana for Accepting Bribes

Asthana had allegedly accepted Rs 2 crore to help Moin Qureshi get away.

CBI Special Director Rakesh Asthana.

(Photo Courtesy: IANS, Altered by The Quint)

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has reportedly booked its own Special Director Rakesh Asthana for accepting bribes in the Moin Qureshi money laundering case. According to a report by The Pioneer, Asthana had allegedly accepted Rs 2 crore to help Qureshi get away. According to The Indian Express, Special Director of R&AW Samant Kumar Goel has also been named in the FIR. However, while Goel’s role is being probed, he has not been named an accused.

WHAT WAS THE MOIN QURESHI CASE?

Moin Qureshi began his career running a small slaughter house in Uttar Pradesh’s Rampur in 1993. However, his business is said to have flourished within a decade, and by 2003 he was regarded as India’s biggest meat exporter and owned many other companies.

Qureshi’s name came under the income tax scanner when Pakistani sufi singer Rahat Fateh Ali was detained at the airport for not disclosing Rs 56 lakh in Indian rupees on his way back after performing at the wedding of Qureshi’s daughter. It was allegedly the fee for his performance.

In 2014, the income tax department reportedly conducted raids at 15 locations connected to Qureshi. It was subsequently discovered that Qureshi had bank accounts in various countries.

CBI’S NUMBER TWO RAKESH ASTHANA’S ROLE

CBI Special Director and number two in the chain of command, Rakesh Asthana has been booked for accepting a bribe in order to wreck the investigation going on against Moin Qureshi. According to The Pioneer, a middleman would give the money to Asthana in return for his favours.

THE DISCOVERY

A businessman named Satish Sinha was also being probed in the Moin Qureshi case by the CBI Special Investigation Team under Asthana. According to The Indian Express report, Sinha gave a statement in which he accused Asthana, middleman Manoj Prasad (named Manoj Kumar in The Pioneer) and Manoj Prasad’s relative, of taking bribes from him and harassing him. Manoj Prasad was then arrested.

According to The Pioneer, soon after his arrest, Manoj Prasad recorded his statement before a Magistrate, in which he confessed to the bribe and admitted to the CBI that he was paying the bribe to Asthana on behalf of Qureshi.

ASTHANA’S ALLEGED INTIMIDATION ATTEMPTS

According to The Indian Express report, the CBI has said that Asthana was trying to ruin Director Alok Verma’s image and “intimidate” officials by complaining about Verma to the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC)

WHAT TO EXPECT NEXT

According to The Pioneer:

“It is understood that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval were briefed about the developments soon after the CBI’s special wing had intercepted the calls of Manoj. CBI Director Alok Verma has moved files to the PMO recommending the suspension of Asthana. RAW chief AK Dhasmana too has moved files regarding the suspension of Goel from service.”

(With inputs from The Indian Express, The Pioneer.)