A team of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials on Monday visited Nabanna, the state secretariat of the West Bengal government, for the second consecutive day. Two officials of the central probe agency went to Nabanna and handed over a letter to the Chief Secretary Malay Kumar and Home Secretary Alapan Bandhopadhyay in connection with its probe in the multi-crore Saradha scam.
In the letter, the probe officials sought to know about the whereabouts of the former Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar. It also asked the duo to clarify grounds on which Kumar went on a month-long leave and when he will rejoin duty again. The CBI also asked Kumar to appear before it today at 2 pm.
On Sunday, the CBI officials visited the secretariat and gave two letters in the name of DGP Shri Virendra. The move comes after Kumar, currently serving as, Additional Director General (ADG), CID (Criminal Investigation Department), did not turn up before the central probe agency for questioning on Saturday.
The IPS officer has sent an email to the authorities and sought one month time to appear before the investigating officer of the case. However, the request has not been accepted yet. The possibility of Kumar’s arrest also cannot be ruled out.
Meanwhile, according to local media reports, Kumar has filed a bail petition before the CBI’s special court in Barasat. On the other hand, the security of Pankaj Srivastava, Joint Director, CBI, has been tightened significantly on Sunday.
Last week, the Calcutta High Court withdrew its order in which Kumar was given protection from arrest. The court also dismissed Kumar’s plea for quashing of a CBI notice that sought his appearance before the agency in the case. The court observed that it was the duty of each and every responsible officer to assist in the investigation.
Kumar, was a part of the Special Investigation Team constituted by the Mamata Banerjee government to investigate the scam before the apex court transferred the case to the CBI in 2014.