CBI vs CBI: Officer who gave MP CM clean chit in Vyapam scam, to probe Asthana

Raising serious concerns about the intentions of Modi government, the entire team probing Rakesh Asthana has been shunted and replaced with officers of questionable credibility.

M Nageswar Rao, a 1986-batch Odisha cadre IPS officer, who took over the duties and functions of CBI director late last night, appointed Satish Dagar as superintendent of police to probe the allegations of corruption against Asthana. He will report to Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Tarun Gauba, who investigated the Vyapam cases and gave clean chit to Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

The interim head of CBI Nageshwar Rao has also been accused of misappropriation of funds in the purchase of uniforms for fire service personnel.

Gauba was transferred from Chandigarh to Delhi on Wednesday, October 24.

An anonymous top CBI source told the Mumbai Mirror that investigation into CBI officers' dealing is only a facade. "If it was genuine, any officer other than Gauba, with a cleaner and an apolitical track record should have been appointed," he was quoted as saying

“Gauba is also believed to be close to the ruling BJP government at the Centre. Gauba's interesting investigations include the Vyapam scam of Madhya Pradesh in which over 40 people had died under mysterious circumstances. This scam revolved around the medical entrance examination and admissions and was first unearth in 2013,” the Mirror reported, adding that “Gauba was later selected for the President's Medal for outstanding investigations in the Vyapam scam. He was given three meritorious service medals in 2017 on Republic Day.”

The previous investigating officer, Deputy SP AK Bassi, has been shunted to Port Blair in "public interest" with "immediate effect", they said.

Asthana had alleged in his complaint to the Central Vigilance Commission that Bassi was carrying out "roving inquiries" against him on the directions of Alok Verma, the CBI director who has been divested of all powers by the government along with him.

In another order, the CBI transferred Joint Director-Policy Arun Kumar Sharma and posted him as joint director of the Multi-Disciplinary Monitoring Agency (MDMA), probing former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi's assassination case.

Senior officer, A Sai Manohar, has been transferred and posted as joint director Chandigarh zone while Amit Kumar, DIG Economic Offence-III, will hold additional charge of joint director-policy.

(With PTI inputs)