Conflict

Four men in plain clothes caught ‘prying around’ CBI Director Alok Verma’s house, possess Intelligence Bureau IDs

image courtesy: indian express
image courtesy: indian express

Four men clad in plain clothes were spotted allegedly trying to pry on former CBI Director Alok Verma and his family. They were caught around 6 AM by his personal security officers outside his official residence Thursday.

The men had Intelligence Bureau identity cards with them and were later handed over to the Delhi Police. Citing the sources from the bureau, Indian Express reported that they denied that their officers were outside Verma’s residence.

Following a ‘war’ between Alok Verma and former CBI Special Director Rakesh Asthana alleging each other of bribery in cases, the government of India stepped in and ‘forcefully’ sent Verma on a leave in a midnight move.

ALSO READ: Bribery allegations fallout: GoI dissolves CBI Director of duties, issues order for Joint Director to take over

Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Twitter claimed that Verma had been dissolved of his duties because he had been  looking into complaints in the Rafale fighter jet deal, Medical Council of India bribery case and the Sterling Biotech case among others.

Verma later challenged his removal from the agency in the Supreme Court of India.

He termed GoI’s action an “illegal interference,” and said it “not only erodes the independence of the institution but also the morale of its officers.”

ALSO READ: Bribery allegations: CBI arrests Depy Police Superintendent for ‘falsification of records’

In response, GoI said that the action was taken based on the Central Vigilance Commission’s decision to conduct an inquiry against him. It had “evaluated” the available material, the government said, and decided to send Verma on leave in the “interest of equality, fair play and principles of natural justice”.

The hearing will be held on Friday. For the time being, M Nageshwar Rao, joint director at CBI is the new interim chief as appointed by GoI.

Alok Verma joined the IPS in 1979 at age 22 and was allotted to the AGMUT (Arunachal, Goa, Mizoram, UTs) cadre. He was the youngest officer in his batch. Prior to assuming the office of CBI Director, Verma had been Commissioner of Police, Delhi; Director General of Prisons, Delhi; Director General of Police, Mizoram; DGP, Puducherry and IGP, Andaman & Nicobar Islands. He was also the only one to hold the top post at CBI without any prior experience in the agency. He was appointed as CBI Director for two years and his tenure ends in December.

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