New Delhi, Sep 15: Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday accused former CBI Joint Director A.K.Sharma, who is also a former Gujarat IPS officer, of helping fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya to escape from the country.

He said Sharma, who was in the CBI in 2015, was also "in charge of Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi's escape plans". The Congress President also alleged that Sharma is Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "blue-eyed-boy" in the CBI.

"CBI Joint Director A.K. Sharma, weakened Mallya's "Look Out" notice, allowing Mallya to escape. Mr Sharma, a Gujarat cadre officer, is the PM's blue-eyed-boy in the CBI. The same officer was in charge of Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi's escape plans. Ooops...investigation!" Gandhi tweeted.

Earlier this week, he had accused Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley of "colluding" with Mallya to help him flee the country and demanded his resignation.

Gandhi had asked why had Jaitley not informed the investigative agencies about his meeting with the chief of now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines. Mallya, who left India on March 2, 2016, faces charges of defrauding banks to the tune of Rs 9,000 crore.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 15, 2018 03:31 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).