india

Updated: Sep 15, 2019 01:17 IST

Former Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar on Saturday ignored summons from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to appear before it for questioning in connection with the Saradha Group financial scandal, prompting the agency to consult a lawyer on its next course of action.

When it became evident that he wouldn’t turn up, a CBI team including Pankaj Srivastava, the joint director based in Kolkata, met lawyer Y J Dastoor on Saturday afternoon.

“We will discuss with our lawyers and take steps. I cannot comment (on the matter),” Srivastava said after meeting Dastoor. He also refused to comment on speculation that Kumar had sent the agency an e-mail seeking a month’s time to appear before the CBI for questioning.

CBI officers indicated that even if he had sought more time, it was unlikely that he would be granted his wish. The agency has already accused Kumar of using delaying tactics to avoid interrogation.

Kumar, a 1989 batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, is now additional director general in charge of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). He was the head of the Special Investigation Team (SIT), constituted by West Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee government, to investigate the scandal related to the 2013 collapse of Saradha Group, which allegedly ran Ponzi schemes that duped hundreds of thousands of investors. Kumar has been accused of concealing and tampering with evidence to shield influential beneficiaries of the Saradha ponzi scheme. The scam is believed to have involved ₹2,460 crore, most of which was deposits made by lower middle-class and poor people from states such as Bengal, Assam, Odisha and Jharkhand.

CBI took over the case in 2014 with the apex court asking the agency to also probe the role of influential people and a possible larger design behind the scam.

Kumar made no public appearance and couldn’t be reached in the day, with his phone being switched off. CID officers indicated that he was consulting lawyers for a possible appeal before a higher court. Several policemen, some in uniform and some in plain clothes, were seen outside the apartment on Park Street where Kumar lives. On Friday, Kumar’s advocate Milon Mukherjee had declined comment on the matter or his client’s possible moves.

With Kumar not showing up for questioning by the CBI, political leaders slammed him and ruling Trinamool Congress leaders.

“Only Mamata Banerjee can say where Rajeev Kumar is. Only a few months ago, she staged a demonstration for him,” said Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national executive member Mukul Roy.

“...if the agency wants, it would find Rajeev Kumar. He is an IPS officer and knows the law well. He cannot escape by hiding. He should cooperate with the agencies,” said BJP Bengal unit president Dilip Ghosh.

“Rajeev Kumar should be arrested and made to confess. I think it is essential that the masks be ripped off those who were part of the ponzi scheme,” said Congress MP Adhir Chowdhury.

The Calcutta high court on Friday removed protection given to Kumar from arrest, paving the way for the CBI to interrogate and take him into custody if it felt necessary. The court observed that if a probe agency functions within the ambit of law, a court cannot interfere in its work.