The inside story of the spies at CBI chief Verma’s house

New Delhi, Oct 25: This morning four men with Intelligence Bureau identification cards were caught outside the house of exiled CBI, Chief, Alok Verma. Soon after they were caught, the opposition accused the government of sending Intelligence Bureau officials to snoop on the chief.

An Intelligence Bureau official tells OneIndia that the accusation that these men were there to spy on the chief is wrong. It was a routine affair and IB sleuths are posted all over the place. Moreover if they were on a covert operation, they would not have carried their identification cards with them, the officer also noted.

It is the job of the IB to monitor and gather intelligence, especially in areas that are high profile in nature, the officer also said. This is done routinely and on a regular basis. It is only when officials are on routine duty, do they carry with them their identification cards, the officer also said.

While these officials were on their rounds, they stopped by as there was an unusual crowd that had gathered. The house of the CBI chief is close to 10 Janpath, which is the home of Sonia Gandhi, senior Congress leader. This area has always been a highly secure zone and IB officials coordinate with the local cops in such areas. When big crowds are noticed, it is only natural to stop by, watch and collect information. That is what any IB official would do, the officer further said.

Earlier four persons identified as Dhiraj Kumar, Ajay Kumar, Prashant Kumar and Vinit Kumar Gupta were caught outside the CBI chief's house. They were handed over to the police later. The four men had identification cards of the intelligence bureau.

The development comes a day after Verma was sent on leave following an ugly spat with special director, Rakesh Asthana. Verma has challenged this decision in the Supreme Court and the matter would come up for hearing tomorrow.

The government has however defended its order saying that the action was taken on the basis of the recommendation by the Central Vigilance Commission. It had evaluated the available material the government also said and the decision was taken 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. Interestingly Verma became the first officer to hold the top post in the CBI, without prior experience at the agency.