Another CBI head rollsAuthor

: M K Tayal Date: 14 Jun 2008
Peeved over bad media coverage and leaks, agency chief asks the spokesman to proceed on long leave

Irked over leaks to the media in the Arushi murder case, Central Bureau of Investigation director Vijay Shanker packed off agency spokesperson G Mohanty from the plump post. The move came a day after three officials probing the double murder case were shifted on Thursday. Though the agency is yet to appoint another spokesperson, Mohanty has been sent on long leave and likely to report back on June 30. However, according to sources, Shanker has been peeved at the media coverage of the Arushi case, in which the CBI is being compared to the Noida police for messing up the sensational murder case.“The agency and the Noida police have been projected as highly incompetent organisations unable to crack the case, so the director had been unhappy with the investigation team for leaking information,” says an agency source. Mohanty was not available for comment on Saturday morning when MiD DAY tried to contact him on the developments in the Arushi case.According to sources, the agency is on the back foot in the case, as it had been in the Nithari case and several other cases. Earlier, the agency removed SCU 3 from the twin murder case and handed over the probe to the SCU 2, which is headed by DIG Alok Verma. It also removed DIG Zaki Ahmed, superintendent of police R S Dhankar and ASP T Balaji on Thursday for leaking information to the media and raising questions on the method of investigation by the sleuths.