Political leaders seek CBI chief's resignation over alleged link to hawala operator

Leaders of various political parties on Thursday demanded the resignation of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Director Ranjit Sinha over his alleged meetings with reported hawala operator and Kanpur-based meat exporter Moin Akhtar Qureshi at his official residence in New Delhi. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Ashutosh said Sinha, who has changed his statement thrice with regard to this controversy, should be suspended immediately.

"Ranjit Sinha has changed his statement thrice. First, when this news was exposed, it was said that the papers are fake. Then, he said it is intruding into his privacy; then, he said that what is wrong in it if a CBI director is meeting the accused. There is a kind of conspiracy that is going on," said Ashutosh. "And with that, even after monitoring of the whole thing by the Supreme Court, the CBI director, together with the accused, was trying to play with the facts. The AAP demands that the CBI director should be suspended immediately," he added.

BJP leader Laxmikant Bajpai said it was not right for the CBI director to meet the meat exporter . "This is an issue for the Centre, but if he has visited the director at his home, and not in his office, then it is not right" he said. Reports claim that Sinha met the controversial meat exporter at least ninety times in 15 months. Qureshi is being investigated by the income tax department for alleged tax evasion. The reports have come at a time when lawyer Prashant Bhushan has alleged that Sinha has been meeting people linked to those accused in the 2G case.