The Calcutta High Court on Thursday granted former Kolkata Commissioner of Police Rajeev Kumar a month’s protection from arrest in connection with the Saradha chit fund case, PTI reported.
However, the court listed out some conditions that Kumar needs to follow in this period. He has to deposit his passport and cooperate with the Central Bureau of Investigation, which is seeking his custodial interrogation, reported ANI. The investigating agency will go to his home in the city’s Park Street locality everyday at 4 pm, the court added. He is also not allowed to step out of Kolkata. The case will be next heard on June 12.
Earlier in the day, Kumar moved the Calcutta High Court seeking to quash the summons issued by the Central Bureau of Investigation, which wants to question him. Kumar 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 in 2014. The agency wants to interrogate him as he reportedly gave 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 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 did not appear for questioning.
Kumar is now additional director general of police and inspector general of police at the state’s Crime Investigation Department.
The Saradha company ran several ponzi schemes in West Bengal, allegedly defrauding lakhs of people. Thousands of crores of rupees were lost after the scheme collapsed in 2013. Its promoter Sudipta Sen was arrested the same year.
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