The drama at the Central Bureau of Investigation continues, with the tension escalating between CBI director Alok Verma and special director Rakesh Asthana. On October 15, the CBI filed an FIR naming Asthana for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 2 crore to settle a case against a businessman named Sana Satish Babu, who was being investigated in the Moin Qureshi case.

According to The Indian Express, the FIR also named Samant Kumar Goel, special director of India’s external intelligence agency (R&AW), but not as an accused. The FIR was a result of a CBI investigation which started after Sana Satish Babu gave a statement to a Delhi magistrate at the beginning of October.

The Indian Express also reported that Asthana “had shot off a ‘top secret’ complaint to the Cabinet Secretary, listing more than a dozen charges” against Verma. The Economic Times quoted sources as saying that Asthana had alleged “serious interference” by Alok Verma in the Moin Qureshi case in an official complaint on August 24 and that Verma had told him not to question Sana. Asthana had apparently written to the Central Vigilance Commission as recently as last week about the case, alleging cases of corruption and irregularities against Verma.

Asthana is reported to be “implicitly trusted” by Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi reacted strongly to the developments, saying the CBI was a “weapon of political vendetta” in the hands of the prime minister.

In the latest development, on Monday, the Prime Minister’s Office summoned both Rakesh Asthana and Alok Verma.