Congress President Rahul Gandhi Wednesday alleged that CBI Director Alok Verma was forcibly sent on leave as he was collecting documents relating to the Rafale ‘scam’, PTI reported.
Verma and CBI Special Director Rakesh Asthana were at ‘war’ with each other, with the former having filed an FIR against him in connection with bribery allegations.
Asthana was also dissolved of all his responsibilities yesterday. Asthana, a 1984 batch Indian Police Service officer of Gujarat cadre, is alleged to have demanded a bribe of Rs 5 crore from a Hyderabad-based businessman through two middlemen to help him get off the hook in the Moin Qureshi case.
Both alleged corruption on each other in connection with different cases.
In a tweet, Gandhi said, “CBI Chief Alok Verma was collecting documents relating to the Rafale scam. He was forcibly sent on leave”.
CBI चीफ आलोक वर्मा राफेल घोटाले के कागजात इकट्ठा कर रहे थे। उन्हें जबरदस्ती छुट्टी पर भेज दिया गया।
प्रधानमंत्री का मैसेज एकदम साफ है जो भी राफेल के इर्द गिर्द आएगा- हटा दिया जाएगा, मिटा दिया जाएगा।
देश और संविधान खतरे में हैं।
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) October 24, 2018
“The Prime Minister’s message is very clear that whoever comes near Rafale (issue) will be removed, wiped out,” he said.
Finance Minister of India, Arun Jaitley dismissed the allegations as “rubbish” and said that the government of India’s decision to remove Verma and Asthana is based on the Central Vigilance Commission’s recommendations.
