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A Delhi court Friday sent Hyderabad-based businessman Sana Satish Babu, arrested in connection with the money-laundering case involving meat exporter Moin Qureshi, to judicial custody.
Special Judge Kiran Bansal sent Babu to jail till August 23 after he was produced by the CBI on expiry of his 14-day custodial interrogation. The court also put up his bail application for arguments on August 17.
The agency is probing the purported purchase of shares worth Rs 50 lakh of a company linked to Qureshi by Babu. He was earlier called as a witness in the money-laundering case but with Friday's development, he has turned an accused.
Babu was arrested from on July 26 under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, the ED had said, adding that he was grilled for a few hours and taken into custody as he was "not cooperating" in the probe.
It is suspected that the amount was paid as a bribe to settle a case. The Central Bureau of Investigation's special probe team, under the then Special Director Rakesh Asthana, had recommended his arrest in its own case against Qureshi and others.
However, in October last year, the Alok Kumar Verma-led agency registered a case of alleged corruption against Asthana and his subordinates, based on Babu's complaint.
Babu alleged that he had paid a bribe to get relief in the case. On the other hand, officials close to Asthana levelled similar allegations against Verma. The matter reached the Central Vigilance Commission, which initiated an inquiry into the charges and counter-charges.
The CVC order dated October 23, 2018, divested Verma of his powers as CBI director under the Prevention of Corruption Act, pending inquiry. Asthana was also stripped of his responsibilities. Verma was removed from the post of CBI director in January, following the CVC recommendation.
