HC grants more time to probe Asthana case

 The Delhi High Court on Friday granted the CBI four more months to complete probe into an FIR filed against its former Special Director Rakesh Asthana in a bribery case.

The court order came on the Central Bureau of Investigation plea seeking extension of time to complete its probe.

The probe agency had registered the FIR against Asthana, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Devender Kumar and two others accusing them of taking bribes at least five times between December 2017 and October 2018 in the Moin Qureshi case.

On January 11, the court refused to quash the FIR against Asthana, Kumar and alleged middleman Manoj Prasad and directed the CBI to conclude the probe within 10 weeks that ended on March 24.

The court said that the allegations levelled against the officers were serious in nature.

According to the CBI, Kumar fabricated the statement of Sathish Sana Babu, a witness in the businessman Moin Qureshi case, showing it was recorded on September 26, 2018, in Delhi.

According to the agency, a probe later showed that Babu was not in Delhi on that day. He was in Hyderabad and joined the investigation only on October 1, 2018, the CBI added.IANS