CBI initiates inquiry after public prosecutor accuses DIG of punching him in the face

A CBI public prosecutor has accused a Deputy Inspector General of the agency of punching him in his face for delaying the submission of a report in connection with a corruption case involving Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's private Secretary Rajinder Kumar.

This has prompted the CBI to set up a fact-finding inquiry into the incident even as Anti-Corruption Bureau DIG Raghavendra Vatsa had filed a complaint against prosecutor Sunil Verma accusing him of misbehaviour, lackadaisical attitude towards work and absence from office, among others.

The issue came into the public domain during a court hearing when Verma told the judge that he had filed a police complaint against Vatsa for physically assaulting him. The court has summoned the DIG on October 19.

CBI spokesperson RK Gaur said a fact-finding inquiry has been set up to look into the allegations. On October 8, Vatsa gave an official complaint against Verma. The next day, Verma met the DIG at his office where he allegedly misbehaved with the latter and had to be taken away by other officers present, sources claimed.

However, Verma disputed this version and filed a police complaint in Lodhi Colony Police Station claiming that the DIG punched him in his face. He claimed that he visited the DIG’s office on October 9 at around 10.30 am where the officer punched him in the face and asked him to sit and talk.

Verma claimed that Vatsa punched him for the delay in the framing of charges against Kejriwal’s private secretary. The agency had filed a charge-sheet against Kumar nearly four years back.