Renewing his attack on the Congress, SP general secretary Amar Singh has said his respect for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has diminished following reports that the CBI had gone out of its way to protect Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi in the Bofors case.

Referring to statements by Rahul Gandhi and reports published in The Indian Express, the SP leader told reporters here on Wednesday: “Rahul Gandhi gleefully said the CBI is working for whichever party is in power, and it is our systematic failure and the organisation is susceptible to be misused. This confirms that the CBI has turned into the Congress Bureau of Investigation.”

Amar Singh said he did not mind Manmohan Singh saying there was no case against Quattrocchi but the Prime Minister’s statement that the country is embarrassed in hounding Quattrocchi was disgusting. “Both Rahul Gandhi and Manmohan Singh said Quattrocchi is not an issue but what was the hurry to remove the Red Corner Notice against Quattrocchi.” He said the Congress had used the CBI as a tool against SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav.