Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) director Alok Verma and his deputy Rakesh Asthana have been divested of all responsibilities amid an internal squabble between the two top officers of the probe agency.

The CBI building was sealed, neither staff nor outsiders were being allowed inside, sources said, according to PTI.

Joint director Nageshwar Rao has been asked to take over as the interim director of the premier investigating agency with immediate effect, a statement by the department of personnel and training.

Verma on Tuesday had divested Asthana of all cases he was overseeing and recommended that he be transferred out of the agency, hours after the Delhi high court refused to halt an investigation against the latter.

Asthana, the second senior-most officer in the federal agency who has been accused of taking bribes, had secured protection from arrest from the high court, which ordered a ‘status quo’ until the next hearing on October 29.

In a counter-allegation, Asthana in a complaint to the cabinet secretary on August 24 had alleged that Verma had received a bribe of Rs 2 crore from a Hyderabad-based real estate agent Sathish Sana whose role was being investigated by a team led by Asthana in a bribery case allegedly involving meat exporter Moin Qureshi.

He had also alleged that Verma had called him over phone in February to not call Sana for questioning.

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First Published: Oct 24, 2018 08:17 IST