The Supreme Court on Monday, 8 April, sought response from former Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar on the CBI’s plea seeking his arrest in Saradha chit fund case.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi issued notice to Rajeev Kumar and sought his response within four weeks.
In its plea, the agency said the recall of the order granting Kumar interim protection from arrest was necessary “to unravel the entire gamut of the larger conspiracy in ponzi scam cases”.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Saturday, 6 April, moved the Supreme Court seeking arrest and custodial interrogation of Kumar. The investigation agency has also requested the apex court to withdraw its 5 February order granting Rajeev protection from arrest.
According to a News18 report, the CBI has claimed that Kumar, during his tenure as the Bidhan Nagar Commissioner had “facilitated the Saradha Group to illegally operate and further collect Rs 805.77 crore during 2012-13, and Rose Valley group to illegally operate and collect Rs 6865.85 crore during 2012-14.”
The CBI, in its application, has further claimed that Kumar remained “elusive and evaded all pertinent questions” related to the chit fund cases when he did appear for questioning as per the Supreme Court order, and did not make available any key evidence to help the agency.
According to the channel, which has accessed the application, the document read: "Rajeev Kumar, whenever he spoke, he did not speak the truth. Majority of his replies were evasive and evading...he has not disclosed any crucial information he was privy to. The demeanour, tone and tenor, and the body language of Rajeev Kumar led to a serious apprehension in the minds of the investigators that Kumar tried all along to shield somebody.”
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had earlier personally supported the former city commissioner by staging a dharna during a face-off between the agency and the local police in the chit fund probe.
A team of CBI officers was stopped from entering the residence of Kumar, when he was the city police chief on 3 February when they had gone to question him in connection with the scam cases.
The move had led to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee launching a dharna in the heart of the city, protesting against "the attack on constitutional norms".
On 5 February, the apex court had directed Kumar to appear before the central investigative agency in connection with the matter. It had also said that no coercive step should be taken against Kumar.
Acting on the apex court's order, the CBI had questioned Kumar for several days in Shillong from 9 February.
(With inputs from PTI and CNN News18)
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