CBI vs CBI: Court extends middleman's judicial custody till Dec 11

A Delhi court Tuesday extended till December 11 the judicial custody of alleged middleman Manoj Prasad, arrested in connection with bribery allegations against CBI Special Director Rakesh Asthana.

Special CBI judge Santosh Snehi Mann allowed the agency's plea, noting that the investigation in the case was at a crucial stage and important witnesses were yet to be examined.

Prasad was arrested on October 17.

The court had on November 3 denied bail to Prasad, saying it was not a fit stage to grant him relief.

It had on October 31 granted bail to co-accused and CBI DSP Devender Kumar after the agency did not oppose his bail petition.

The agency 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 alleged middleman Somesh Prasad has also been named as an accused in the case.

The FIR had alleged that Kumar, being the Investigating Officer (IO) in the case against meat exporter Moin Qureshi, repeatedly called the complainant to the CBI office to harass and compel him to pay a bribe of Rs 5 crore for getting a clean chit in the case.

The complaint had also alleged that a part of the bribe was paid by Sana.