CBI at war with itself under Modi rule: Rahul Gandhi

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Monday alleged the CBI was being used as a "weapon of political vendetta" under the Modi government and that the premier investigation agency was on a terminal decline and "at war with itself".

Taking to Twitter, he cited a media report where the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) second in command Rakesh Asthana has been named as an accused in a bribery case.

"The PM’s blue-eyed boy, Gujarat cadre officer, of Godra SIT fame, infiltrated as No. 2 into the CBI, has now been caught taking bribes," Gandhi tweeted.

"Under this PM, the CBI is a weapon of political vendetta. An institution in terminal decline that’s at war with itself," he said.

READ: Rakesh Asthana, the CBI officer who once grilled Lalu

The Congress chief and his party has been attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the appointment of Asthana as CBI special director.

In an unprecedented move, the agency has booked its special director for allegedly receiving bribes from middlemen to give relief to a businessman being probed by him in a case involving meat exporter Moin Qureshi, officials had said on Sunday.