New Delhi: As the country’s premier investigative agency is embroiled in a civil war with two top cops of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Rakesh Asthana and Alok Verma sent on leave, the man behind the split of the CBI is Moin Qureshi, an infamous meat exporter.

CBI special director Rakesh Asthana has been accused of accepting Rs 3 crore bribe in the Moin Qureshi case.

Also read: CBI vs CBI: Supreme Court orders completion of inquiry against ex-chief Alok Verma in 14 days

Qureshi is also the reason behind the downfall of two former CBI chiefs AP Singh and Ranjit Sinha.

Who is Moin Qureshi?


•    Moin Akhtar Qureshi is a millionaire meat exporter from Kanpur.

•    Qureshi started off as the owner of a small slaughterhouse in Uttar Pradesh and went on to become the biggest meat exporter of India. 

•    He has faced multiple investigations including tax evasion, corruption and money laundering. 

•    Qureshi has now ventured into the real estate sector and owns 30 companies including construction and fashion.

•    He first came under the I-T scrutiny in 2011 when he flew in Pakistani singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan to perform at his daughter’s wedding. Khan was detained because he was carrying undeclared foreign currency worth Rs 56 lakh in cash.

•    During the 2014 election campaign, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had accused then Congress president Sonia Gandhi of protecting him from Income Tax raids. 

•    Qureshi was also allegedly close to two former CBI directors. Names of former directors - AP Singh and Ranjit Sinha - cropped up during an investigation.

•    Qureshi and had exchanged messages over Blackberry Messenger with former CBI chief AP Singh, which brought him under I-T and ED scrutiny. 

•    The ED charge sheet revealed 22 Blackberry messages were exchanged between Qureshi and other government servants. The messages showed how he took money from people promising them favours from said public servants, many of which included men from the CBI.

•    BBM messages of Qureshi revealed that hawala channels were used to transfer a portion of the bribe money belonging to government officials, to countries like UK and France. 

•    He had allegedly extorted money from suspects on behalf of former CBI director Singh, promising relief.

•    Qureshi was raided in 2014 and the ED has been pursuing an Rs 200-crore money laundering case against him ever since.

•    He was arrested by the ED in 2016.

•    In 2014, Qureshi was found visiting then CBI chief Ranjit Sinha’s residence at least 70 times in around 15 months.

Also read: CBI vs CBI: What Alok Verma said in his petition before Supreme Court

•    Satish Sana, a Hyderabad-based businessman who is being investigated in connection with Qureshi, said that he tapped Qureshi to make use of his contacts with Sinha and secure bail for his friend being probed by the CBI. Sana alleged that he paid Rs 1 crore to Qureshi for the same.