New Delhi, Dec. 28: The Central Bureau of Investigation has removed a senior officer alleged to have driven a graft-accused bureaucrat and his family to death, acting on two purported suicide notes that complained of torture and harassment.

A senior agency official said DIG Sanjeev Gautam, the officer accused of harassing the bureaucrat and his family, had been repatriated to his parent cadre.

"Gautam has been removed as DIG CBI and he has been repatriated to his parent cadre (customs). The internal inquiry against him and other CBI officials have also been completed," the official said.

Gautam's name, along with three other CBI officials, had figured in the purported suicide note of B.K. Bansal, a director-general in the corporate affairs ministry who had been accused of taking a bribe.

CBI sources said an officer of the rank of joint director conducted the probe against Gautam and the others and the agency had sent its report to the National Human Rights Commission yesterday.

"Before removing Gautam we took mandatory permission from the competent court as he was also part of the team probing the 2G spectrum allocation scam," the agency official said, without divulging the contents of the report.

When contacted, Gautam refused comment. "Sorry, I am not authorised to speak to the media. Please get in touch with whoever is concerned to talk on this," the officer told The Telegraph.

The 1995-batch IRS officer belongs to the customs and central excise department and had joined the CBI on deputation in 2014.

Bansal and his son Yogesh had hanged themselves in their east Delhi home on September 27. Bansal's wife Satyabala and daughter Neha had killed themselves on July 19, saying they felt humiliated by the agency's raids on their home.

In two separate purported suicide notes, Bansal and his son said torture led by Gautam drove them to death. The notes also named two lady officers, Rekha Sangwan and Amrita Kaur, and a "fat constable".

In his purported note Bansal had alleged that Gautam asked his officers to inflict torture on him and his family and that the DIG had also bragged about being BJP chief "Amit Shah's man".

"DIG Sanjeev Gautam, the two lady officers and the fat constable should undergo a lie-detector test and the exact truth will come out. DIG had said 'I am Amit Shah's man. Who can touch me?' He said he would make the condition of my wife and daughter such that those who will hear it will tremble," the note said.

The letter attributed to Yogesh said his mother and sister were directly and indirectly tortured and made to cry so much that they had to commit suicide.

Another agency official said the internal inquiry was conducted "on the basis of the suicide notes left by the Bansals and the statements of Gautam and the other three officials had been recorded".

Earlier, the rights commission had issued a notice to the CBI, expressing anguish over the purported suicide notes published in the media and asked the agency's then director, Anil Sinha, to share copies of the letters.

In a statement the panel said it was taking a "serious view of the alleged illegalities and human rights violation by the CBI".