Former Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar did not appear for questioning before the Central Bureau of Investigation on Monday in connection with the Saradha chit fund scam, PTI reported, citing unidentified officials.
The investigating agency had summoned Kumar to its office in Salt Lake, Kolkata, on Monday after a team had failed to meet him at his home on Sunday.
On Monday, Kumar sent a letter to the CBI seeking more time to appear before its officers. Kumar reportedly said in the letter that he will be unable to attend questioning as he is on leave for three days. An official of the Criminal Investigation Department submitted the letter at the CBI office in Salt Lake. Kumar was reinstated as the additional director general of the Criminal Investigation Department on Sunday.
An unidentified official in the CID told The Indian Express that Kumar was on leave for six days and that he was in Varanasi.
Kumar is likely to move the Barasat court for anticipatory bail later on Monday, but unidentified CBI officials said a team was at the court to prevent him from taking any legal step to stop the agency from interrogating him, PTI reported.
The CBI had issued a lookout notice against Kumar to prevent him from leaving the country. The notice is valid for one year.
The CBI is seeking custodial interrogation of Kumar in connection with the Saradha chit fund scam as he was heading the Special Investigation Team which was investigating the case before the CBI took over. Kumar is accused of tampering with evidence in the Saradha scam.
On May 17, the top court had lifted the interim protection from arrest granted to Kumar and gave him seven days to seek legal help. He approached the vacation bench of the court three days later seeking an indefinite extension of protection from arrest, citing a strike by lawyers in West Bengal as a reason. The following day, the court refused to set up a special bench to hear his petition.
The CBI moved the Supreme Court after Kolkata Police prevented its officials from approaching Kumar at his official residence on February 3. After Kumar’s dismissal, he was transferred to the Crime Investigation Department, where he held the rank of additional director general of police and inspector general of police.
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