The CBI has absolved its former Special Director Rakesh Asthana of allegations of taking bribes from fraud-accused pharma company Sterling Biotech, sources have said. This is the investigating agency's second clean chit to Rakesh Asthana, who had a controversial stint in the CBI until he was removed in 2018. Currently the chief of the Border Security Force (BSF), he was cleared by the CBI last March in another bribery case, linked to meat exporter Moin Qureshi.