CBI row: Delhi Court extends CBI custody of middleman Manoj Prasad

A Delhi Court on Thursday extended the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) custody of Dubai-based investment banker and middleman Manoj Prasad by five days.

Prasad was arrested on October 17 by the CBI for allegedly seeking Rs five crore from a Hyderabad businessman Sathish Sana for getting relief from the CBI's summons, and is in the middle of Alok Verma-Rakesh Asthana spat.

Senior advocate Siddharth Luthra appeared for accused Prasad in the court.

The CBI has registered a case against Asthana on the basis of claims made by Sathish Sana.

In events that unfolded well after midnight on Tuesday, Verma and Asthana were divested from their duties as the two hit out at each other over bribery accusations in the meat exporter Moin Qureshi money laundering case. In the wake of this, Rao, who was working as the Joint Director of the CBI, was appointed as the interim director with immediate effect.

The decision to appoint Rao was taken after Asthana moved the Delhi High Court seeking the quashing of First Information Report (FIR) filed against him by the CBI. The court, however, ordered that no action would be taken against Asthana until next hearing, which is scheduled for October 29.

The CBI had filed an FIR against Asthana for allegedly accepting a bribe from a businessman, who was linked to Moin Akhtar Qureshi case. Asthana was heading the Special Investigation Team (SIT) that was probing Qureshi's case.