Has CBI chief Alok Verma been sacked for his keenness to probe Rafale scam, asks Congress

The Congress Wednesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of interfering in the working of the CBI and wondered if its Director Alok Verma was "sacked" for his keenness to probe the "layers of corruption" in the Rafale scam.

Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the Modi government has put the "last nail" in the independence of the CBI by removing Verma.

Systematic dismantling and denigrating of CBI is now complete. Once a premier investigating agency, PM ensures that CBI's integrity, credibility and reliability is 'buried and dead', he wrote on Twitter.

Has the CBI Director been sacked for his keenness to probe the layers of corruption in Rafale Scam? Isn't the rest a shoddy cover up? Let PM answer, he said in another tweet.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, however, dismissed as "rubbish" allegations that Verma was removed because he wanted to look into the Rafale fighter jet deal.

He said the government's decision to remove Verma and Special Director Rakesh Asthana is based on the Central Vigilance Commission's recommendations.

Former Law Minister M Veerappa Moily said the removal of the CBI director was illegal, unethical and unconstitutional.

The Congress on its official Twitter handle asked, Why has the government removed CBI Director Alok Verma of his charge and sealed his offices? Who are they protecting and what are they hiding?