New Delhi: In the wake of the ongoing CBI crisis at the Centre, two high-ranking officials of the CBI— Director Alok Verma and Special Director Rakesh Asthana were levelling allegations of corruption against each other. The issue sent the BJP government into a tizzy with Prime Minister Narendra Modi responding to the situation on a war footing.

The prime minister-led appointments committee in an order on Tuesday night has given charge of director to Joint Director M Nageshwar Rao with immediate effect. The order implies that the government has sidelined all the three additional directors number three in the agency's hierarchy, including A K Sharma, whose name had figured in the complaint by Asthana.

The CBI on Tuesday also suspended its Deputy Superintendent of Police Devender Kumar, who was arrested on Monday on the charge of falsification of records while probing allegations against meat exporter Moin Qureshi. It also added five new sections into the existing bribery FIR lodged against its Special Director.

Kumar is an Investigating Officer in a case against Qureshi, who is facing multiple cases of money laundering and corruption. A trial court on Tuesday sent Kumar to CBI custody for seven days. Asthana, a 1984 batch Indian Police Service officer of Gujarat cadre, is accused of accepting a bribe of Rs 2 crore from a Hyderabad-based businessman Sathish Babu Sana who was under probe in the Qureshi case in order to "wreck" the investigation. The case was being examined by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by Asthana. The CBI has said that there was "no change in responsibilities" of the the second-in-command so far.

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M Nageshwar Rao Bio

M Nageshwar Rao is the Joint Director at the agency and has been appointed its Interim Director. He is a 1986 batch IPS officer from the Odisha cadre, and supersedes Mr Asthana. Popularly known as MNR in the IPS circles, he hails from Bore Narsapur of Mangampeta mandal in Warangal district.

Born to Seshamma & Pichayya, Mannem Nageshwar Rao completed his schooling from Mangampeta and Thimmampeta, Intermediate from AVV college in Warangal and completed graduated in Industrial Chemistry from CKM college, Desaipet in Waranagal. He went on to do his PG in Chemistry from Osmania University. While pursuing research in IIT Madras he cracked the Civil Services in 1986 to become an IPS oficer from the Odisha cadre. He worked for a long period in Chhattisgarh and was appointed as the Joint Director of CBI after JD Lakshmi Narayana relinquished his post.

He is the second Telugu man and first from Telangana to head the CBI, the former being CBI Director K. Vijaya Rama Rao.

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