The Central Bureau of Investigation on Friday transferred a joint director of the agency who was investigating a corruption case involving Special Director Rakesh Asthana, PTI reported. The agency, however, issued a subsequent order stating Joint Director V Murugesan will continue to supervise the case just hours after his transfer from the unit was reported in the media.
Asthana is accused of receiving kickbacks and extorting money from Hyderabad-based businessman Sathish Babu Sana, who was being investigated in the Moin Qureshi corruption case. Qureshi is an accused in multiple graft cases.
Murugesan was transferred from the unit investigating charges against Asthana to the unit overseeing coal scam cases. “He [Murugesan] has been divested of the responsibility of the unit probing the Asthana case,” CBI spokesperson Abhishek Dayal told The Indian Express. “However, he will continue to supervise this particular case.”
Murugesan’s charge has been given to Joint Director GK Goswami, who will be in charge of the AC (HQ)-I zone which was investigating the case against Asthana. Dayal said Goswami will supervise the zone, but Murugesan will look in the Asthana case alone.
Citing the transfer order, PTI reported showed that Murugesan, who was deputed by CBI interim Director M Nageswara Rao to lead the investigation against Asthana, was transferred to give an “impetus to expeditious completion of coal scam cases”. The order said Murugesan was “bogged down” by additional charge of joint director.
The Supreme Court had earlier ordered Rao to refrain from taking any major policy decisions as interim CBI chief but allowed him to perform routine tasks that are essential to keep the agency functioning. Unidentified CBI officials, however, said the transfers were not policy decisions.
Meanwhile, the agency also transferred Joint Director Vineet Vinayak, who was looking after the anti-corruption wing in Delhi Zone, to Patna and his charge was given to Additional Director Praveen Sinha. The transfer order stated that Vinayak, who was supervising coal cases, was “bogged down” by the responsibility of the Delhi zone, a “heavy zone”.
Joint Director Bhanu Bhaskar was transferred from Delhi to Patna to focus on the Muzaffarpur shelter home case as 16 new cases have now been entrusted with the CBI.
In all the transfer orders, the agency mentioned that all the inquiries are being monitored by the Supreme Court and the officials were transferred to expedite investigation.
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