Senior Indian Foreign Service official Rakesh Kumar allegedly involved in case of human trafficking to Germany has been divested of his charge as special secretary, Economic Relations, in the external affairs ministry.
Rinzing Wangdi, a 1971 batch IFS officer, took charge as secretary (Economic Relations) on Monday, official sources said in New Delhi Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Kumar, a 1972 batch IFS officer, continued to play a hide and seek game with the Central Bureau of Investigation with his family claiming no knowledge of his whereabouts.
The family had informed the CBI Monday that he had left for Rishikesh to "recuperate" after he had got himself hospitalised for nearly a fortnight in Munich, Germany.
The external affairs ministry had served the notice sent by the CBI at his residence and directed him to make himself available for questioning before the agency.
The CBI team had also served a notice directly at his south Delhi residence Monday under Section 160 CrPC.
The CBI team was informed Monday that he had gone to Rishikesh, but Tuesday his family said he was not in touch with them.
The CBI had registered a first information report against Kumar and three others after nine of the 15-member dance troupe went missing upon their arrival in Berlin.
The CBI officials were surprised over the hide and seek game being played by Kumar and were now planning to move a caveat to prevent any application for anticipatory bail being moved by him.
Earlier this month, Kumar had broken journey at Munich while on his way back to India from Brazil, where he was accompanying the Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma and got himself admitted to a hospital in Munich.
The investigating agency filed an FIR against Kumar during his tenure as the director general of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations and named him in the FIR along with three others.
Besides Kumar, Programme Officer of ICCR Kehkeshan Tyagi and two others Har Gulab Singh and Shiv Kumar Sharma were named by the CBI in its FIR filed in a designated CBI court after which raids were conducted at the residential and official premises of all the accused on March 29.
CBI claimed that Kumar, during his tenure as director general of ICCR, and Tyagi had entered into a criminal conspiracy with Singh and Sharma to facilitate illegal trafficking of nine individuals to Berlin.
Kumar and others empanelled a cultural group styled as 'Mehak Punjab Di' with ICCR. The empanelment was done in clear violations of established procedures, the CBI alleged.
Out of this, nine members went missing on arrival in Berlin and the allegation was that they were taken there with a malafide intention of being smmuggled into Europe, the CBI charged.
Singh was one of the nine dance troop members which went missing in Berlin and has since returned, five others had been taken into custody after their plea for asylum was declined by the German authorities.
