Two PSOs involved in the incident withdrawn from CBI chief Alok Verma’s house.
The Centre has asked the Delhi Police to inquire into the conduct of personal security officers of CBI Director Alok Verma who thrashed four Intelligence Bureau (IB) officers on Thursday.
The incident that took place outside Mr. Verma’s 2, Janpath bungalow was resolved after senior IB officials raised the matter with the Delhi Police.
A senior government official said no case was being registered against the erring PSOs but an inquiry would be conducted to fix responsibility. The two PSOs who were seen thrashing the IB personnel have been withdrawn from Mr. Verma's residence.
Mr. Verma and Special Director Rakesh Asthana were divested of all duties on October 23 by the Government. The ongoing feud started after claims and counter-claims of bribery and corruption against each other. Mr. Verma has challenged government’s order in the Supreme Court.
The PSOs are from the Delhi Police; some have been attached with Mr. Verma’s security detail from his time as Delhi Police Commissioner.
The Delhi Police have a separate wing providing proximity security to VIPs. Around 15 PSOs who work in three shifts are deployed around the CBI Director’s residence. Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge had earlier in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused the government of snooping on Mr. Verma.
As reported earlier, the PSOs mistook the personnel for those from the CBI who had come to raid Mr. Verma’s bungalow at the behest of Special Director Rakesh Asthana.
Around 7 am on Thursday, the PSOs deployed at Mr Verma’s bungalow spotted two white cars parked suspiciously in a lane opposite the house. When the occupants in the cars were confronted by PSOs about their identities, an argument ensued and the four men were thrashed and dragged inside the bungalow. On the intervention of senior IB officers, a Delhi Police vehicle was sent to the bungalow remove the men. Inside the bungalow, the PSOs returned the mobile phones and other belongings to the four men after they were convinced that they belonged to IB.
“The inquiry is being done to trace the course of events that day and identify the wrong doers,” the official said. The probe will be done by a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) rank officer.
IB had earlier said that the IB officials were deployed for “routine duty” outside Mr. Verma’s residence after they saw unusual collection of people. A senior government official said the men were carrying their identity cards and it was “unlike surveillance, which is done covertly, without any visible appurtenances.”
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