‘Money, power & harassment’: Complaint that landed CBI No. 2 Rakesh Asthana in a soup

Rakesh Asthana | Arun Sharma/Hindustan Times via Getty Images

Hyderabad businessman Sathish Babu Sana has alleged that CBI officers Rakesh Asthana and Devender Kumar ‘harassed’ him into paying Rs 5 crore.

New Delhi: The CBI has set the cat among the pigeons by naming its own special director Rakesh Asthana as the prime accused in a bribery scandal.

It has done so on the basis of a complaint made by Hyderabad-based businessman Sathish Babu Sana, who alleged he was harassed into paying crores of rupees.

Sana’s statement has raised questions about corruption within the premier investigation agency, the involvement of middlemen, and a vicious circle of money and power.

Asthana and DSP Devender Kumar — who was arrested Monday — along with businessmen Manoj Prasad and Somesh Prasad allegedly asked Sana to pay Rs 5 crore to “settle” the Moin Qureshi corruption case, in which he is a suspect.

Asthana was heading the Special Investigation Team in the Qureshi case. According to Sana, the Prasads look after Asthana’s benami properties in London and Dubai, and manage his money.

Asthana has rejected the allegations and denied any wrongdoing.

ThePrint looks into the detailed allegations made in Sana’s complaint to the CBI.

A meeting and a WhatsApp call

In his complaint, Sana alleged that he received a notice from Kumar on 9 October 2017, asking him to appear for questioning in the Qureshi case. He was asked to appear again on 17 and 23 October 2017, and was asked to submit his bank account details. Thereafter, Sana left for Dubai on 2 December for a business meeting.

During his visit, he met Manoj and informed him about being repeatedly summoned by the CBI.

“He assured me that he would help me out in the CBI case by using his connections and through his brother Somesh Prasad,” Sana claimed.

Manoj introduced him to Somesh, who then made a WhatsApp call to a CBI officer in front of Sana and explained the issue.

“After talking to the said officer he assured me that my problem would be solved and no further notices will be issued to me by CBI,” Sana alleged.

Rs 5 crore and a picture of a man in uniform

According to Sana’s complaint, Somesh told him he would have to pay Rs 5 crore to the CBI officer through him for complete relief in the case.

“He further informed that in order to get favour in the case from the CBI officer I will have to pay an amount of Rs 3 crore as an advance and remaining Rs 2 crore at the time of chargesheet in the case and in lieu of this money the CBI will give a clean chit to me,” he alleged.

Sana also claimed that when he asked Somesh about who he spoke to in the CBI, he showed him the display picture of a person in police uniform, saying he was in touch to get things done.

“The picture was of an officer in police uniform. Somesh disclosed the identity of the person as Rakesh Asthana. When I checked the photo of Asthana through Google, they were the same as available in DP of Somesh Prasad (sic),” Sana said.

‘Jai Hind’

Sana believed the Prasads and desperate to be relieved of the mental agony, he allegedly arranged for and paid Rs 1 crore to Manoj in his office in Dubai. He also allegedly arranged another Rs 1.95 crore to be paid to one Sunil Mittal, an associate of Somesh. This payment, Sana claimed was made on 13 December 2017 in the parking area of the Press Club of India in New Delhi.

After the payment was made, Somesh is believed to have travelled to India and called Sana on his Dubai number on 15 December. Somesh then allegedly told him he was going to meet the CBI officer and would call him again on WhatsApp, using his Singapore number, from the officer’s room.

“Within five minutes he called again and asked me to listen to the conversation and he kept the call on line. I heard the voice of some person. They first talked about some matter and then about my matter. I heard that officer giving instructions to some other person to look into my matter and thereafter he disconnected the call by saying Jai Hind,” Sana alleged.

Sana claimed Somesh told him that the officer concerned was Asthana, the man in the display picture. “He said Asthana will take care of CBI case in lieu of payment of Rs 5 crore. I got confident and came back to India on 21 December 2017,” Sana claimed.

“During discussion, Somesh said that Asthana will surely do the work as Somesh manages his investments in Dubai and London for many years,” Sana claimed in his complaint. “He also mentioned names of officers Samant Goel (RAW) and Pervez Hayat with whom he is in touch.”

Pressure to pay up

Sana alleged there was a lot of pressure from the CBI to pay the money in order to get relief. He claimed he constantly received messages from Somesh, saying he himself was under pressure from the officer to deliver the money, and that he had WhatsApp messages to prove it.

“After this conversation and paying Rs 2.95 crore, I did not receive any notice from CBI,” Sana alleged.

But to his surprise, on 13 February 2018, he received another notice from Kumar, asking him to appear for questioning on 19 February.

“I was quite disturbed that even after paying Rs 2.95 crore — which I managed with great difficulty — I was issued another notice by the CBI. I immediately talked to Manoj and told him about the notice, which was against his promise. Manoj informed me that I had to pay the balance amount of Rs 2 crore to avoid issuance of further notice and to get full relief,” alleged Sana.

Manoj, Sana claimed, asked him to attend the questioning on 19 February, and assured that the job would be done and the CBI officer would “handle me softly”. So, Sana attended the questioning.

“I was again asked about giving Rs 50 lakh to Qureshi in 2011 for coming out in Vanpic case by the CBI but I denied. I was also confronted with Qureshi on 20 February, and he denied taking any money from me,” Sana alleged.

“Thereafter, IO DSP Devinder Kumar directed me to appear before him on 21 February but I left for Dubai on 20 February to meet Manoj,” Sana claimed in the complaint.

‘Harassment’ begins again

Manoj is then believed to have told Sana to pay the rest of the amount to get the issue settled. Manoj, Sana claimed, also told him that the CBI officer concerned was flying to Dubai and he could meet him there. Sana said he refused to meet, saying he just wanted the matter settled.

“Thereafter, I got a mail from DSP Devender Kumar on 26 February asking me to send bank account transactions as well as details, which I sent with necessary documents through email and courier by 21 March. I did not receive any notice from CBI till end of May 2018,” he said.

Another notice was then sent to Sana on 5 June, asking him to attend CBI questioning on 9 June. Here, he was again asked to submit his bank details, which he did.

The look-out circular

On 25 September 2018, while Sana was leaving for Paris, he was stopped at Hyderabad airport by an immigration officer, who informed him that a look-out circular had been issued against him, and that he would not be allowed to leave India. He was then directed to report to the SP, CBI.

Sana said he was surprised as he had gone to the CBI whenever summoned, furnished all details, and most importantly, paid crores in bribes to settle the matter.

“I called the DSP and asked why LOC was issued as I had attended the CBI regularly. He asked me to appear again on 27 September. Since I had viral, I could not go and I informed DSP on 27th morning via SMS,” claimed Sana.

Sana claimed that he then went to the CBI office on 1 October 2018 and met the DSP, who took him to meet SP Jagroop and asked him why he was going to France.

“I clarified that I was going for admission of my son. I was made to sit in CBI office till 7 pm after which was taken to joint director Sai Manohar,” Sana stated.

“The JD asked me about my partnership with Qureshi which I denied. He said I was lying and I am a common director in six companies and indulging in benami transactions of Qureshi,” alleged Sana.

“He then called for the files and checked if my name was there but could not find it. They again asked me to appear on 3 October. I was asked to write a handwritten statement explaining my connection with Qureshi, which I did the same day.”

Another payment 

Sana claimed this round of questioning rattled him, and he again approached Manoj, who allegedly said these summons were being issued due to non-payment of his “dues” to the CBI officer concerned.

“I called Manoj requesting him to get me relief. I made many calls and messages on WhatsApp, and he replied that all this was happening due to non-payment of balance, which I said I will do soon,” Sana alleged.

Manoj, Sana claimed, told him that he had spoken to the CBI officer. “I was made to promise to pay Rs 2 crore.”

On 10 October, Manoj is believed to have informed Sana that the balance amount should be delivered to his man, who would then ensure it reached the CBI officer.

Sana alleged that since he could only arrange another Rs 25 lakh, he sent his man to deliver the money to Manoj’s man.

“Accordingly, an amount of Rs 25 lakh was handed over by my person to Manoj’s person in a shop called Diamond Polki in Karol Bagh. I found it difficult to arrange the entire amount and so requested to Manoj to handle the situation,” Sana claimed.

Claims of innocence

Sana reiterated that he was not involved in the Qureshi case, and yet was made to go through mental agony and pay through his nose.

“I have been made to part with huge money by above named persons, including CBI officers, in the guise of helping me in a case wherein I have no involvement. I request you to take action against the culprits,” Sana said in his complaint.