Former Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar on Thursday moved the Calcutta High Court to seek the quashing of a notice sent to him by the Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with the Saradha chit fund scam, PTI reported. A vacation bench will hear the plea at 2 pm.
The investigating agency had asked Kumar to appear before its officials to assist in the inquiry. He had headed the Special Investigation Team set up by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to investigate the scam before the Supreme Court handed over the case to the CBI. The agency wants to take him into custody for interrogation as he had reportedly given evasive replies during questioning in Shillong in February. Kumar is accused of tampering with crucial evidence in the case.
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 top court twice again, but the court refused to set up a special bench to hear his petition, and asked him to approach courts in West Bengal or file an application before Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi.
A team of the Central Bureau of Investigation visited Rajeev Kumar’s home in Kolkata on Sunday to serve him summons. After not finding him there, the officials went to the office of the deputy commissioner of police and instructed Kumar to appear at the CBI office in the city’s Salt Lake locality the next day. He reportedly did not appear for questioning even then.
Kumar is now additional director general of police and inspector general of police at the state’s Crime Investigation Department.
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