After Verma, Rakesh Asthana and three more officers 'axed' from CBI
New Delhi, Jan 17: The Centre Thursday curtailed the tenures of Special Director Rakesh Asthana and three more senior officers in the CBI with immediate effect, days after the agency's chief Alok Verma was shunted out by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led panel.
Gujarat-cadre IPS officer Asthana, who had an unprecedented feud with his boss Verma, was sent on forced leave by the government in October last year.
The tenures of Asthana, Joint Director Arun Kumar Sharma, Deputy Inspector General Manish Kumar Sinha and Superintendent of Police Jayant J Naiknavare have been curtailed, the Personnel Ministry said in an order.
Verma and Asthana had levelled allegations of corruption against each other. They were sent on forced leave by the government.
Amidst the feud between the two, the CBI registered a corruption case against Asthana when Verma was the agency's chief.
Meanwhile, the government appointed M Nageswara Rao as the interim CBI chief.
Rao had then transferred Sinha, who was probing the FIR against Asthana, to Nagpur from the agency's Delhi headquarters.
His transfer was, however, reversed by Verma who was again in January given the charge of the CBI Director following a decision by the Supreme Court.
Verma was shunted out as the CBI chief by the Modi-led high-powered committee that comprised Supreme Court judge A K Sikri and Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge as the members.
Verma was then appointed as the Director General of Fire Services, Civil Defence and Home Guards. He, however, refused to take up the new post, saying he had already superannuated from the Indian Police Service after completing 60 years of age on July 31, 2017.
Verma took over as the CBI chief for a fixed two-year term on February 1, 2017.
The tenure of Sinha, whose name had also come up in the CBI controversy involving its two top officers, was also curtailed.
Sinha, in a petition filed before Supreme Court against his transfer, dragged the names of National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval, Union Minister Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhary and Central Vigilance Commissioner K V Chowdary over alleged attempts to interfere in the probe against Asthana.
Sharma, who is considered close to Verma, was also involved in the bitter quarrel between Verma and the sacked CBI chief.
Asthana and Sharma are Gujarat-cadre IPS officers. Whereas, Sinha is a 2000-batch IPS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre and Naiknavare belongs to 2004-batch Maharashtra cadre.
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4 held for sexually assaulting woman, girl on moving bus after social media alert in UP's Agra
Agra (UP) (PTI): Four people were arrested, after a prompt response by police following a social media alert, for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman and a girl inside a moving bus here, officials said on Tuesday.
According to an official police statement, at 12:27 am on April 27, information was received on the social media platform X about an incident of sexual assault on a bus travelling from Kanpur to Ahmedabad, which was approaching Namner crossing in Agra.
Acting under the direction of Police Commissioner Deepak Kumar, the Agra Police social media team immediately alerted the Rakabganj police station within minutes and coordinated with the victims to confirm the incident and obtain the exact location, it stated.
Police teams launched intensive checking at Namner crossing and intercepted the bus as it reached the spot. The four accused involved in the incident were apprehended on the spot, and legal action was initiated against them, the statement said.
The police said the swift response and coordination between the social media team and field units ensured timely action, bringing relief to the victims and other passengers, who expressed gratitude towards the police, it added.
