Rahul Gandhi has termed the CBI as a weapon of political vendetta and said that the institution is at war with itself.
After the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Sunday registered a case against Rakesh Asthana on the basis of claims made by a businessman, Congress President Rahul Gandhi termed the CBI as a "weapon of political vendetta" under Narendra Modi's regime on Monday.
"Under this PM, the CBI is a weapon of political vendetta. An institution in terminal decline that’s at war with itself," he said.
Gandhi's comments come after the CBI announced on Sunday that it has registered a case against its own Special Director Rakesh Asthana of accepting bribe to settle a case of meat exporter Moin Qureshi, who is facing multiple cases of money laundering and corruption.
He cited a media report where the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) second in command Rakesh Asthana has been named as an accused in a bribery case.
"The PM's blue-eyed boy, Gujarat cadre officer, of Godra SIT fame, infiltrated as No. 2 into the CBI, has now been caught taking bribes," Gandhi tweeted.
The Congress chief and his party has been attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the appointment of Asthana as the CBI special director.
Apart from Asthana, the CBI has also named Samant Kumar Goel, Special Director of RAW, but not as an accused.
Earlier, Asthana had filed a complaint against CBI Director Alok Verma accusing him of interfering in the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation corruption case involving family members of Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Lalu Prasad.
In an unprecedented move, the agency has booked its special director for allegedly receiving bribes from middlemen to give relief to a businessman being probed by him in a case involving meat exporter Moin Qureshi, officials said on Sunday.
(With agency inputs)