New Delhi, Oct 29(DC): Hyderabad-based businessman Satish Babu Sana, who has accused CBI Additional Director Rakesh Asthana of bribery has knocked the doors of the Supreme Court seeking for interim protection after being summoned by the investigation agency for questioning.

In his statement to the CBI, Satish Sana had said he paid a bribe of Rs 2 crore to Rakesh Asthana to be spared any action in an investigation linked to meat exporter Moin Qureshi. The money was paid over a 10-month period starting from December 2017.

Satish Sana was being investigated by a SIT team headed by Rakesh Asthana when he had accused him for accepting bribes. As per reports, Satish Sana had met Manoj who claimed to have good relations with Asthana. He added that his brother, Somesh, will help him in getting clean chit from Rakesh Asthana.

Taking cognizance of the complaint filed by Satish Sana, the CBI had registered a First Information Report (FIR) against its Number 2 officer Rakesh Asthana.

Later, Asthana accused CBI Director and number 1 officer Alok Verma of being corrupt and filed the complaint against him.

The Centre interfered into the matter, last week and sent both Alok Verma and Rakesh Asthana on leave.

After being divested from his duties, Alok Verma moved the Supreme Court and challenged the decision by the Centre of sending him on leave. After looking into the petition filed by Alok Verma, CJI, Ranjan Gogoi, had given two weeks time to the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) to complete the enquiry and submit the report to the court. The court has appointed a former apex court judge to monitor the inquiry.