CBI opposes middleman's bail plea in bribery case against Asthana
New Delhi, Nov 2 : The CBI Friday opposed the bail application of Manoj Prasad, an alleged middleman arrested in connection with bribery allegations involving the agency's Special Director Rakesh Asthana.
The agency told the special CBI judge Santosh Snehi Mann that the accused was an influential person and if granted the relief, he may tamper with the ongoing probe and flee from justice.
The court put up the application for Saturday for argument after the counsel for Prasad said he needed time to go through the CBI's reply and advance his arguments.
Prasad is currently in judicial custody.
The court had on October 31 granted bail to co-accused and CBI's DSP Devender Kumar after the agency did not oppose his bail petition.
In his bail application, Prasad said he was not required for the custodial interrogation and no purpose will be served by keeping him in further custody.
The CBI had registered an FIR against Asthana and others on a written complaint of businessman Sathish Sana on October 15.
Besides Asthana, Prasad and Kumar, another middleman Somesh Prasad has also been named as an accused in the case.
The FIR had alleged that Kumar, being the IO in the case against meat exporter Moin Qureshi, was repeatedly calling the complainant to the CBI office to harass him and compel him to pay a bribe of Rs five crore for getting a clean chit in the case.
The complaint had also said that a part of the bribe was paid by Sana.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
