Additional solicitor general Vikramjit Banerjee, representing the CBI, said Letters Rogatory (LRs) have been sent to the US and UAE and the response is awaited due to which the investigation could not be completed.
The development could delay the probe in the first information report (FIR), registered by sacked CBI director Alok Verma last year against Asthana in which it was alleged that latter took ₹3 crore bribe from Hyderabad-based businessman Sathish Sana Babu.
According to home ministry officials, a joint coordination committee, formed only last month under NCB director general Rakesh Asthana, met on Wednesday for the first time to discuss ways to curb the drug trade. According to estimates, India is abusing 36 tons of heroin each year.
Sana Satish Babu’s arrest is a vindication of the stand taken by the ex-CBI special director Rakesh Asthana who had taken on his boss in the agency Alok Verma.