New Delhi, Oct 25 (NIE): Four men in plain clothes, who were allegedly trying to snoop on sidelined CBI director Alok Verma and his family, were caught at around 6 AM today by Verma’s personal security officials outside his official residence. The four men found with the identity cards of Intelligence Bureau were then handed over to the Delhi Police. The IB sources, however, denied that their officers were outside Verma’s residence.

Amid an unprecedented feud in the agency, Verma was abruptly “sent on leave” in a midnight government order on Tuesday. Verma, who was looking into complaints in the Rafale fighter jet deal, Medical Council of India bribery case and the Sterling Biotech case among others, has challenged his removal in the Supreme Court. Calling the government’s action an “illegal interference,” Verma said it “not only erodes the independence of the institution but also the morale of its officers.” The hearing will be held on Friday. M Nageshwar Rao, joint director at CBI is the new interim chief.

Along with Verma, Deputy Rakesh Asthana was also divested of his powers in the agency. Both Verma and Asthana have alleged corruption charges against each other.

Under fire from the Opposition for divesting Verma, the government defended the order saying the action was taken based on the Central Vigilance Commission’s decision to conduct an inquiry against him. It had “evaluated” the available material, the government said, and decided to send Verma on leave in the “interest of equality, fair play and principles of natural justice”.

Alok Verma joined the IPS in 1979 at age 22 and was allotted to the AGMUT (Arunachal, Goa, Mizoram, UTs) cadre. He was the youngest officer in his batch. Prior to assuming the office of CBI Director, Verma had been Commissioner of Police, Delhi; Director General of Prisons, Delhi; Director General of Police, Mizoram; DGP, Puducherry and IGP, Andaman & Nicobar Islands. He was also the only one to hold the top post at CBI without any prior experience in the agency. He was appointed as CBI Director for two years and his tenure ends in December.