The Central Bureau of Investigation has pressed on with its move against special director Rakesh Asthana and arrested DSP Devender Kumar, who has also, along with the former, been accused of taking bribe of £3,00,00 from one Sathish Babu Sana. The action against Kumar was seen as the declaration of intent of CBI director Alok Verma to take the FIR against rival Asthana to its logical culmination and as an indication to the sordid lengths the premier investigating agency might go.
CBI has named Asthana as accused number one in its FIR registered on October 15, on basis of a complaint from Sana, promoter of Playboy Club in Hyderabad, who has alleged that the CBI special director and other accused extorted £3,00,00 in bribe from him. Also arrested in the case is Dubai-based investment banker Manoj Prasad. A team from the agency had reportedly camped in Vadodara two days ago to inquire into the opulent marriage of Asthana's daughter. The team arrived in the city on October 11 and left the next day, according to a source close to the development. The wedding was held in the grand Laxmi Vilas Palace in November 2016, and a large number of guests had arrived for the occasion.
A source said, “A team of CBI officials visited the venue of the wedding and the hotels that were booked for the guests. They inquired about the number of guests who had arrived, how many rooms were booked and who paid for the expenses.” They said the caterers and other vendors involved in the marriage were also questioned. After the wedding, a party was also organized at an industrialist’s farmhouse on the city’s outskirts. Asthana was posted as Vadodara police commissioner in 2008 and transferred to Surat as city police chief in 2011.
Meanwhile, Asthana's letters to the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) and cabinet secretary, complaining about concerted attempts to tarnish his image have also referred to Lucknow offices of the Enforcement Directorate. In the letters, he has claimed how a Lucknow CBI's SP, a West Bengal IPS officer posted there, had allegedly fainted at Diwali dinner hosted by Verma in 2017 when he was asked questions on supervision of a graft case against an ED official. Asthana has also claimed the phone and laptop of the ED official was not seized by the CBI on pretext that his children were using them, following pressure from Verma.
