We found concrete evidence against Rajeev Kumar: CBI on chit fund scam probe
Kolkata, Feb 3 (IBNS) As a high-pitched drama unfolded in Kolkata Sunday evening over the CBI's attempt to interrogate Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar, the federal investigating agency claimed they have concrete evidence against the city police chief in the chit fund scams probe and hence summoned him for quizzing for the past two years.
"As we found concrete evidences against Rajeev Kumar, we had summoned him. As he did not respond to our notices, our officers went to his residence in south Kolkata today to quiz him with all valid documents and paper-works," CBI joint commissioner Pankaj Kumar Srivastava told IBNS after probe agency officials were whisked away from the gate of the residence of Rajeev Kumar and detained in a police station when they went to his residence to quiz him on the Rose Valley and Saradha chit fund scams.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee later started a dharna (sit-in protest) against the CBI action in West Bengal and accused the Modi government of pursuing vendetta politics ahead of elections knowing that they are losing the support of people to rule India. She said she would give her. life for the country and save democracy if needed. Rajeev Kumar and other senior officials also sat on dharna with the CM.
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"After being directed by the Supreme Court, we are probing the chit fund cases. For last two years, we have repeatedly been sending notices to Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar, asking him to appear before our investigators for interrogation as he was the chief of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) which was constituted by the state government and it probed the matter in preliminary stage," said Srivastava.
"After starting investigation, we found that several evidences were destroyed or misplaced," he said.
"As he did not respond to our notices, our officers went to his residence in south Kolkata today to quiz him with all valid documents and paper-works. Unfortunately, without cooperating with our officers, police manhandled them and detained them. We will take adequate legal steps against the actions of Kolkata Police," he said.
Counting the CBI, Praveen Tripathi, Jt CP, Crime, Kolkata Police, said: "Those CBI officers told us that they had gone to CP's house for a 'secret operation'. They failed to produce adequate documents relating to the raid or interrogation. When we asked them why they were here and what questions they wanted to ask, they could not give any answer."
Meanwhile, Central Reserve Police Forces (CRPF) personnel were deployed to protect the CBI offices in Kolkata after the unprecedented episode unfolded in on Sunday with the central agency pitted against Bengal police and the latter physically forcing them inside a vehicle when they tried to enter the house of Rajeev Kumar. They were taken to a police station and later released.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee rushed to the house of Kumar and later sat on a dharna (sit in protest) with senior police officials, including Rajeev Kumar himself, in the city's downtown area at Metro Channel.
The opposition leaders slammed the presence of senior police officers in the dharna of Mamata Banerjee.
(Reporting by Deepayan Sinha)
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