Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the sidelining of CBI Director Alok Verma alleging that he was forced to go on leave because he was collecting documents on the Rafale deal.

"CBI chief Alok Verma had been collecting papers on the Rafael scam. He was forcefully sent on leave. The Prime Minister's message is clear that whoever comes near Rafael will be removed or destroyed. The country and the Constitution are under threat," the Congress chief said in a tweet.

He reiterated the charge at a rally in Rajasthan's Jhalawar where he said, "Last night, 'chowkidaar' (a referebce to PM Modi) removed CBI Director because the CBI was questioning the Rafale deal."

Meanhwile, the government has decisoon to remove Verma.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the decision to remove CBI Director Alok Verma and Special Director Rakesh Asthana is based on the CVC's recommendations and was absolutely essential to restore the agency's institutional integrity and credibility.

He also dismissed as "rubbish" allegations of opposition parties, including the Congress, that Verma was removed because he wanted to look into the Rafale fighter jet deal.

In a swipe at them, Jaitley said their allegations indicate they had access to what was going in the mind of the officer concerned, an apparent reference to Verma.

That itself demolishes the integrity of the person they are trying to support, he said.

The Congress has accused the Prime Minister of interfering in the working of the CBI and wondered if Verma was "sacked" for his keenness to probe the "layers of corruption" in the Rafale scam.

Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the Modi government has put the "last nail" in the independence of the CBI by removing Verma.

Systematic dismantling and denigrating of CBI is now complete. Once a premier investigating agency, PM ensures that CBI's integrity, credibility and reliability is 'buried and dead', he wrote on Twitter.

Has the CBI Director been sacked for his keenness to probe the layers of corruption in Rafale Scam? Isn't the rest a shoddy cover up? Let PM answer, he said in another tweet.

The CBI has overhauled the team probing allegations of corruption against Asthana, bringing in completely new faces, officials said Wednesday.

Changes have been effected from the investigation officer to the supervisory level, they said.

M Nageswar Rao, a 1986-batch Odisha cadre IPS officer, who took over the duties and functions of CBI director late last night, appointed Satish Dagar as superintendent of police to probe the case, they said.