Saradha scam: CBI summons former Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar for questioning on Saturday

Kolkata: The CBI has summoned former Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar to appear for questioning on Saturday in connection with its probe into the Saradha scam, officials said. The agency served notices to Kumar after the Calcutta High Court withdrew his protection from arrest on Friday. [caption id=“attachment_7338551” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of former Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar. PTI[/caption] A team of CBI officials reached his residence to serve the notice, the officials said. Kumar, who is currently the West Bengal CID additional director general, was part of a special investigation team set up by the West Bengal government to investigate the scam before the Supreme Court handed over the case to the CBI in 2014, along with other chit fund cases. The Saradha group of companies allegedly duped lakhs of people to the tune of Rs 2,500 crore, promising higher rate of returns on their investments. In May, the Supreme Court declined to entertain his petition seeking extension of protection from arrest in the multi-crore Saradha scam case. He was granted protection from arrest on 17 May by the apex court for seven days and he had filed a fresh petition seeking to restrain the CBI from taking any coercive action against him. However, a vacation bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra had said Kumar’s plea was not “maintainable” as a bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi had already passed an order in the matter on 17 May and the IPS officer should not have filed a fresh writ petition. The bench, also comprising justices BR Gavai and Surya Kant, said that Kumar can personally approach the Calcutta High Court or the trial court seeking relief in the case. But on Friday, the Calcutta High Court vacated its interim order granting the former police commissioner protection from arrest. The court also rejected Kumar’s prayer for quashing of a CBI notice that sought his appearance for questioning in the case. It refused to entertain his prayer that no coercive action be taken against him without the permission of this court. It said that Kumar’s allegation that he was targeted and singled out for questioning by the CBI cannot be accepted, since other officers superior to him in the SIT were questioned. Noting that Kumar has failed to substantiate that the CBI was summoning him for questioning to dent his reputation, the court observed that it should be the duty of every responsible officer to assist an investigation.