4 'Suspected' IB Men Nabbed Outside Alok Verma's Residence
The former CBI Director, who has been removed from his post, was said to be dealing with seven sensitive cases, including Rafale, coal scam, medical college bribery.
Four men suspected to be from the Intelligence Bureau (IB) were on Thursday nabbed from outside the residence of Alok Verma, the CBI Director who was sent on leave a day ago over corruption charges.
According to sources, the four were found waiting outside Verma's house late on Wednesday. They were caught snooping outside the CBI House on Janpath.
Earlier on Thursday, the suspects were intercepted and held by Verma's chief security officer, who found them sitting in two cars.
More details were awaited about their motives. It is also yet to be confirmed if they have been arrested.
Delhi Police and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) teams are looking into the matter.
According to The Wire, the four arrested men have been handed over to Delhi Police. "The suspicion is that they were either looking for ways to plant listening devices or were keeping an eye on all visitors to the residence", the report said.
Hinting at the involvement of National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, The Wire report said: "This snooping on Verma, like the entire search and raid of the CBI headquarters on Wednesday that was carried out by unidentified intelligence and police officials, is believed to have been conducted by a team working under national security advisor Ajit Doval."
Incidentally, Doval is said to have played a key role in implementing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision that the CBI director be removed forthwith.
The Wire report also cited sources close to Verma saying that the "apparent attempt to snoop on him is “vintage Gujarat model” – a reference to the police tactics Modi and Amit Shah, currently BJP president, used when they ruled the state to stymie any opposition or threat to their position."
After a government order Verma and his deputy Special Director Rakesh Asthana were divested from their duties on Wednesday amid an unprecedented feud in the agency as the two hit out at each other over bribery accusations in the meat exporter Moin Qureshi money laundering case.
Verma was said to be dealing with seven sensitive cases when the Prime Minister decided to pull the plug on him, according to the Indian Express.
The first was the Rafale deal, the charges against two former high court judges for their alleged involvement in the medical college bribery case, a coal scam case in which the name of top PMO official Bhaskar Khulbe figures and the case against Rakesh Asthana, the number 2 in CBI, who is also facing bribery charges.
Get the latest reports & analysis with people's perspective on Protests, movements & deep analytical videos, discussions of the current affairs in your Telegram app. Subscribe to NewsClick's Telegram channel & get Real-Time updates on stories, as they get published on our website.
