Former Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar skipped a meeting with the CBI officials on Monday, 27 May, despite being summoned by the agency for questioning in connection with the Saradha chit fund scam.
Kumar, in a letter to the investigative agency, sought some more time to appear before its officers and stated that he's on leave. The letter was delivered by West Bengal CID.
The CBI had earlier summoned the 1989-batch IPS officer for questioning and was asked to be present at the Kolkata office of the agency in Salt Lake.
A Look Out Notice was also issued against Kumar on CBI’s direction on 26 May to prevent him from leaving the country.
According to officials, the agency wants custodial interrogation of Kumar in connection with the chit fund scam as he was heading the police's special investigation team to probe the case before the CBI took over.
The ponzi scheme scam was over Rs 2,500 crore by the Saradha group of companies, which had duped lakhs of customers promising higher rates of returns on their investment.
SC Rejects Rajeev Kumar’s Plea for Extended Protection from Arrest
The Supreme Court on 24 May had dismissed Kumar’s plea seeking extension of protection from arrest in the multi-crore Saradha chit fund scam case.
Kumar was earlier granted protection from arrest by the apex court for seven days which ended on 24 May.
During the hearing, a vacation bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra said Kumar can approach the Calcutta High Court or the trial court there for seeking relief.
At the outset, the bench told Kumar's counsel that a bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi had already passed an order in the matter and later, the CJI had also declined urgent listing of an application filed by the IPS officer seeking extension of protection from arrest.
On 17 May, a three-judge bench headed by CJI Ranjan Gogoi had withdrawn the protection from arrest granted to Kumar by its 5 February order. However, the court had said his protection would continue for seven days from 17 May to enable him to approach the competent court for relief.
Mamata Sits in Dharna Protesting CBI Action Against Kumar
On 3 February, while he was still the Police Commissioner of Kolkata, a team of CBI officers was stopped from entering his residence, 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” and his “unlawful arrest.”
(With inputs from ANI and PTI)
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