The Supreme Court on Monday asked former Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar for his response to the Central Bureau of Investigation’s plea demanding his arrest in the Saradha chit fund case, ANI reported. The court ordered Kumar to reply within four weeks and set the next hearing for April 15.
The investigating agency’s petition also demanded that the Supreme Court revoke its February 5 decision to grant Kumar protection from arrest.
The CBI told the court that Kumar’s arrest was needed to “unravel the entire gamut of the larger conspiracy in ponzi scam cases”. The agency also asked the court to direct the West Bengal administration to comply with the court’s orders and cooperate with the investigation into the case. The petition asked to the court to warn the state against “intimidating, harassing and scaring agency officials” investigating the cases.
In March, the CBI had filed a contempt petition in the Supreme Court alleging that Kumar and the West Bengal government did not cooperate with the investigation into the Saradha chit fund scam.
The West Bengal government and police had also rejected allegations made by the CBI that they had obstructed the inquiry into the chit fund scam. The West Bengal Police had claimed the CBI had forcibly tried to enter Rajeev Kumar’s official residence on February 3 without valid papers.
The CBI had interrogated Kumar in connection with the Saradha chit fund scam in March and had claimed that Kumar was absconding when it issued repeated summons to him in the case in February. The agency also alleged that the Kolkata Police had prevented its officials from entering Kumar’s residence on February 3.
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