Devender Kumar was arrested for allegedly forging a statement to assist CBI’s No. 2 Asthana in his corruption complaint against agency director Verma.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday summoned CBI director Alok Verma and special director Rakesh Asthana, a day after the investigating agency booked Asthana as prime accused in a bribery scandal.
At almost the same time, the CBI arrested its own deputy superintendent of police, Devender Kumar, for allegedly forging a statement to assist Asthana in his corruption complaint against Verma.
Asthana, a 1984 batch Indian Police Service officer of the Gujarat cadre, has been named as accused No.1 for allegedly demanding and taking Rs 3 crore bribe from businessman Sathish Babu Sana, a suspect in the Moin Qureshi corruption case.
Kumar also allegedly worked closely with Asthana and businessmen Manoj Prasad and Somesh Prasad, who are said to have acted as middlemen and taken the bribe on Asthana’s behalf.
After the allegations came to the fore, supporters of Asthana floated a copy of the complaint that he had written to Central Vigilance Commission on 26 September, alleging that it was actually Verma who had taken the bribe — of Rs 2 crore — and that he was just being framed.
The two statements
Asthana alleged that when Sana was called in for questioning in February 2018, Verma had called him and instructed that he should not be examined.
In his letter to the CVC, Asthana said that some other suspects were also discussing paying bribes to Verma to avoid any action, and hence he was alerting the CVC.
Also read: ‘Money, power & harassment’: Complaint that landed CBI No. 2 Rakesh Asthana in a soup
Meanwhile, the CBI has alleged that Asthana and Kumar received “illegal gratification through private persons” Manoj and Somesh, in return for the promise of giving Sana ‘relief’.
The CBI released a statement saying Sana was called to the CBI for examination on multiple occasions in October and November 2017, but was exempted from the proceedings after he paid a hefty bribe to officials, including Asthana.
“Rs 2.95 crore was paid to public servants through Manoj Prasad and Somesh Prasad and Sana was able to obtain relief in the on-going investigation in the Moin Qureshi case. Subsequently, there were no notices issued to him till mid-February 2018,” a CBI official said.
Devender Kumar’s role
Kumar, meanwhile, has been arrested for allegedly forging records.
According to the CBI, Kumar forged the complaint reportedly recorded by Sana, changing it to suit Asthana’s allegation that the bribe had been paid to Verma.
“The matter relates to the creation of a statement of Sathish Sana, showing it to be recorded on 26 September 2018 at Delhi. During the investigation, it has been found that Sana was not present in Delhi on that day as he was in Hyderabad,” a CBI statement read. “Sana actually joined investigation at Delhi only on 1 October 2018.”
Also read: War in CBI reaches PM Modi’s door after No. 2 officer Rakesh Asthana is named in bribery scandal
The CBI statement added: “The statement has found to be fabricated to corroborate the baseless allegations made by special director Rakesh Asthana to the Central Vigilance Commission. Looking into the seriousness in the matter, role of other officers of SIT, CBI then supervising the Moin Qureshi case are also being probed.”
The ‘fabricated’ statement signed by Kumar reads: “During June 2018, I had discussed my case with one of my old friends C.M. Ramesh, a Rajya Sabha member who assured that he will talk to the concerned director. Subsequently, when met with C.M. Ramesh, he told that he had personally met director CBI regarding my case and examination by CBI. Ramesh also informed that I will not be called again in his case. Since June onwards, I was not called by CBI, I was under the impression that investigation against me is completed.”