Yet another ‘Gujarat connection’ has emerged in the ongoing internal CBI fight with Special Director Rakesh Asthana alleging that Ahmedabad was a centre where CBI’s extortion and corruption took place.In a serious allegation, Rakesh Asthana, the second-in-command in CBI, who has now been sent on leave, has made direct allegations of corruption and extortion against CBI’s joint director and Gujarat cadre IPS officer A K Sharma.Asthana, in a letter to the Central Vigilance Commission, has highlighted that A K Sharma’s son Kushagra runs a company called Brevity Enterprise in Ahmedabad in partnership with Pratik Kamal Kumar Ojha. Pratik is the brother-in-law of Rakesh Tiwari, a Delhibased caterer, who has been charged in a Rs 35 lakh bribery case by CBI in September along with two CBI officials; Tiwari was reportedly a CBI broker.In this explosive letter, Asthana has attempted to establish a link between Sharma and Tiwari. Asthana has categorically written, “Brevity Enterprise was constituted on April 30. A K Sharma’s family run shell companies with controversial people who figure on CBI’s list,” he has alleged.Brevity enterprises is a three-yearold Ahmedabad-based company engaged in specialised machinery manufacturing. Mirror tried to get in touch with Kushagra and Brevity (registered address: A-4, Suryavansh Apartment, near Ishwar Bhuvan, opposite Joggers Park, Commerce Six Roads, Navrangpura) but was not successful.Brevity was formed with a capital of Rs 1 lakh. Interestingly, Brevity Enterprises was formally constituted nine days after A K Sharma took up his CBI assignment.A K Sharma, believed to be close to BJP national president Amit Shah, headed the crime department in Gujarat and was known as a no-nonsense upright officer in power corridors. However he was criticised for his reported allegiance to the BJP in Gujarat.Asthana has alleged that one Ashwani Gupta posted in personal section of A K Sharma ran shell companies. Asthana alleged that Sharma’s family also ran shell companies.The Supreme Court is hearing the CBI-versus-CBI case today. The explosive Asthana letter to CVC says that Ashwani Gupta’s wife Anju and AK Sharma’s daughter Arpita worked together as directors in a company called Meta World that was constituted in February 2017.CBI Director Alok Verma and Special Director Asthana are placed against each other in an internal war and now Asthana has targeted A K Sharma who is believed to be close to Director Verma. Rakesh Asthana and A K Sharma are both Gujarat-cadre officers appointed in CBI, Delhi.