FIR on Bribery: Senior CBI Officer Alleges Doval Tampered With Agency's Probe

As the crisis in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) unfolds, an Interlocutory Application filed by the agency’s senior officer Manish Kumar Sinha in the Supreme Court (SC) against his transfer, has revealed the sordid state of affairs in the country's premier investigating agency.

Expressing concern over a “deliberate, concerted attempt to change the course of the investigation” into an FIR on a bribery-cum-extortion racket by CBI officers related to meat exporter Moin Qureshi’s case, the application alleges NSA Ajit Doval’s ‘crucial' intervention into the agency’s probe, and has also named a Minister in the Narendra Modi Cabinet for receiving a “few crores” for intervening in a matter concerning the CBI through the office of the Minister of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions.

In his application seeking quashing of his transfer, Sinha has called for a SC-monitored SIT probe into the FIR concerned.

The applicant, who is at present DIG in the investigating agency, was formerly head of the branch investigating the corruption allegations against officials of the CBI in charge of meat exporter Moin Qureshi’s case. On October 24, he was transferred to Nagpur, which he alleges was “arbitrary, motivated and malafide,”and done due to the manner in which the investigation was progressing. What he alleges in his application is not only the role of CBI’s Deputy Director, Rakesh Asthana, but also a trail leading up to the highest echelons of the Cabinet Secretariat and the National Security Adviser (NSA).

In his application to the SC, Sinha has sought quashing of his transfer order and setting up of an SIT to probe the FIR concerned in the case, under the supervision of the apex court.

Sana Humiliated?

The timeline, as mentioned in the application, begins with the complaint filed by Sathish Babu Sana against CBI Deputy Director Rakesh Asthana, Deputy Superintendent Devender Kumar as well as two private persons, Manoj and Somesh Prasad. Sana was under investigation in the Moin Qureshi case which in which Devender Kumar was the investigating officer (IO). Sana was named as an informant by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Sinha in his application suggests that Sana would not have filed his complaint had he not been humiliated by the CBI at Hyderabad airport in the presence of his family. Another motivating factor could also have been that Sana was assaulted by the IO in the CBI headquarters.

Sana’s complaint on October 15, 2018 alleged that money was paid during December 2017 and October 2018 to the tune of Rs. 2.95 crore and Rs. 36 lakh, respectively. The complaint was converted into a First Information Report (FIR) and Deputy Superintendent AK Bassi was put in charge of the investigation.

Leads by Manoj Prasad

The next day, Manoj Prasad was intercepted by the CBI at Delhi airport. Though there was no reason to arrest him at the time, Manoj Prasad provided the investigators with enough leads to be arrested. According to Sinha, Manoj Prasad’s first reaction was to rattle off a list of contacts he had. He told the told the investigators that his father, Dineshwar Prasad, had retired as Joint Secretary in the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and was a close acquaintance of the NSA, Ajit Doval. He also told the investigators that his brother Somesh Prasad was a close friend of the RAW Special Secretary, Samant Goel. As well as that he had met Nitin Sandesara of Sterling Biotech in London. Both Nitin and Chetan Sandesara are named as accused in the Sterling Biotech case.

Manoj Prasad was formally arrested in the intervening night of October 16 and 17, and his sister was informed. On October 17, the CBI received repeated queries from the Special Cell of Delhi Police as to whether Manoj Prasad had been arrested. Sinha has alleged that upon probing, the queries had originated from the Cabinet Secretariat. According to Sinha, the call records show that on October 17, there were four calls made by Somesh Prasad – Manoj’s brother – to Samant Goel. Four calls from Goel to Asthana, and one call from Dineshwar Prasad to Goel.

The same day, the CBI Director, Alok Verma briefed the NSA that Asthana was named in the FIR. Following Manoj Prasad’s arrest, Somesh Prasad completely stopped contacting public officials from October 18. This may have led the IO AK Bassi to suspect that WhatsApp was being used for correspondence.

On October 20, Sana was interviewed in the CBI headquarters by Sinha. According to the application, Sana’s story did not change from that mentioned in the complaint. However, he did provide some additional information. He mentioned that during the first fortnight of June 2018, a sum of a few crores was given to Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhary, the Minister of State for Coal and Mines. Chaudhary had allegedly intervened in a matter concerning the CBI through the office of the Minister of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. The money was allegedly paid via someone called Vipul from Ahmedabad. Sinha also mentioned that a different source corroborated this by saying in a phone conversation, where Sana is heard telling Laxma Reddy, a state legislator for Medchal constituency in Hyderabad that Rs. 2 crore was sent. Throughout his testimony, Sana claimed that he was being extorted.

The Doval Link? 

 The same day in the afternoon, a search was conducted on the residence and office of Devendra Kumar, the IO in the Moin Qureshi case. While the search was being conducted, the officers at the site received a call from Verma telling them to stop the search. When the call was made, Sinha was in Verma’s presence. Verma allegedly told Sinha that the order had come from Doval.

Bassi repeatedly requested the Director Verma to authorise seizing the cell phones of the public officials concerned. However, Verma allegedly turned down the requests stating that Doval did not permit it. On October 22, Bassi officially put the proposal on record by submitting it in writing. Verma instead returned the proposal seeking the reason why the proposal should be granted. According to Sinha, when asked, Verma said that Doval was blocking the proposal.

On October 22, Devender Kumar was arrested based on a recorded statement of Sana’s dated September 26, 2018. However, Sana was not in Delhi to give a statement to the CBI on that date. The next day, the Director of Prosecution informed Sinha that Pradeep Koneru – one of the witnesses in the Moin Qureshi case – had admitted that he gave Kumar Rs. 50 lakh to avoid harassment.

In the evening of October 23, the Deputy Director of the Special Unit of the CBI provided the investigators with additional information regarding the case. He allegedly told the officers present that Somesh Prasad told his father in law, Sunil Mittal, that Sana had asked Manoj to get some work done. Manoj had asked Somesh to look into it, and Somesh discussed the matter with Goel. The Deputy Director of the Special Unit also mentioned that someone had spoken to Goel and asked for help. Goel allegedly told them that the matter was being managed by the Prime Minister’s Office.

Though Sinha was transferred on October 24, Sana called him asking for advice as on November 8, Sana had been approached by Rekha Rani an All India Services officer from the Andhra Pradesh cadre. Rani had allegedly given him Suresh Chandra, the Union Law Secretary’s London number saying that he wanted to speak. The Law Secretary informed him that PK Sinha, the Cabinet Secretary wanted to inform Sana that the Union Government will offer him full protection and that there will be a drastic change on Tuesday (November, 13) and that Sana and he should meet on Wednesday (November, 14).

The events leading up to the shock transfers from October 23 onwards seem to point towards a rot that flows down from the top. If true, Sinha’s allegations have unmasked a network of extortion and patronage in the country.