CBI row: AK Bassi challenges transfer in SC, claims ‘incriminating evidence’ against Rakesh Asthana
New Delhi, Oct 30: Amid the ongoing turmoil in the Central Bureau of Investigation, CBI officer AK Bassi Tuesday moved the Supreme Court challenging his transfer to Andaman and Nicobar.
Bassi who was heading the probe in bribery allegations against agency’s Special Director Rakesh Asthana told the court he had “incriminating evidence” related to the case and asked for a SIT probe against the officer. The apex court, however, declined the urgent hearing.
M Nageshwar Rao, the interim CBI chief, had ordered a reshuffle of the team probing allegations against Asthana, immediately after he took charge. Key among the reshuffles was the marginalisation of Joint Director (Policy) A K Sharma and transfer of Deputy SP Ajay Kumar Bassi. While Sharma was transferred to the Multi-Disciplinary Monitoring Agency (MDMA) of CBI, Bassi was moved to the agency’s office in Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar. The order directed him to “join his new place of posting with immediate effect in public interest”.
While several other officers were transferred by Rao, CBI Director Alok Verma and Rakesh Asthana were divested of their powers by the government. Both Asthana and Verma challenged the order in the apex court.
The Supreme Court, while hearing Verma’s plea last week had said Nageswar Rao cannot take any policy decisions and will only look after the day-to-day administrative affairs of the agency. The court had also asked for all transfer decisions taken by Rao in a sealed cover.
Asthana, in a letter to Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) recently, had alleged that Bassi and Deputy SP Ashwani Gupta were of “doubtful integrity” and had been sent on a “roving enquiry” to Vadodara to somehow connect him to the Sandesara family, prime accused in the Sterling Biotech case.
Both Bassi and Dubey, working under A K Sharma, were probing the 2016 wedding of Rakesh Asthana’s daughter. According to documents, several venues for the wedding were availed by the Asthana family on “complimentary” basis. However, catering and other services at the venues were paid for in cheques or through credit cards.
Courtesy: indianexpress.com
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Ahmedabad plane crash: Six months on, college hostel lies in ruins, sans bustle of students
Ahmedabad (PTI): Six months after the AI-171 plane crash, the B J Medical College hostel complex in Ahmedabad stands as a haunting reminder, with its charred walls and burnt trees replacing the once lively chatter of students with an eerie stillness.
Scattered across the crash site are grim remnants of daily life - burnt cars and motorcycles, twisted beds and furniture, charred books, clothes and personal belongings.
The Atulyam-4 hostel building and the adjoining canteen complex stand abandoned, with entry strictly prohibited.
For residents near the site, memories of the incident still linger, casting a lasting shadow on their lives, with some of them saying they are still afraid to look up at the sky when an aircraft passes overhead.
On June 12, Air India flight AI-171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner bound for London, crashed moments after take-off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, killing 260 persons.
The aircraft slammed into the BJ Medical College hostel complex in Meghaninagar, turning a lively student neighbourhood into a landscape of ruin and grief.
"The area now lies very silent, only a few birds chirp here," Sanjaybhai, a security guard deployed at the premises by authorities to prevent trespassing, told PTI.
Mahendrasingh Jadeja, a general store owner whose shop is just 50 metres from the point where the aircraft struck, described it as an unimaginable calamity. "In all my years, I have never seen anything like this."
Pointing to a tree behind his shop, the 60-year-old said the aircraft first struck there before crashing into the hostel building.
"It was a scorching summer afternoon. Not many people were outside. When I heard a loud crashing sound, I ran out of my shop. We were all terrified," he recalled.
"Even today, we instinctively look up whenever a plane passes overhead," he added.
Another local, Manubhai Rajput, who lives barely 200 metres from the site, said he witnessed the horror unfold on June 12.
"The plane was flying unusually low. Before I could understand what was happening, there was thick black smoke and a deafening crash," he said.
For over three decades, Rajput and his neighbours lived close to the airport without giving much thought to the aircraft overhead.
"We never looked up at the sky. But that day is etched in my mind. The plane hit a tree first, and then there was a loud sound," he said.
Rajput recalled how hundreds of locals rushed to the site even before police, fire services or the Army arrived.
Tinaben, another resident of Meghaninagar, said she never imagined something like this could happen in Ahmedabad.
"Despite being close to the airport, this area always felt safe," she said.
As an aircraft roared overhead during the conversation, Tinaben paused, looked up nervously and said, "It's still scary."
A senior official of Civil Hospital Ahmedabad, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the state government has yet to decide what to do with the damaged site.
Currently, investigations are going on and the site is strictly prohibited for people, he added.
