New Delhi/Kolkata, May 26 (IANS) The CBI, which has issued a lookout circular (LoC) against former Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar, on Sunday issued summons to him for questioning over his role in the multi-crore Saradha chit fund scam.
Kumar has been asked to be present at CBI’s office in Kolkata on Monday, agency officials said.
Meanwhile the West Bengal government on Sunday reinstated Kumar as Additional Director General, CID, an official statement said. The order came after the withdrawal of Model Code of Conduct imposed by the Election Commission with the announcement of the poll schedule.
The poll panel on May 15 relieved Kumar from his post in West Bengal following violence in Kolkata and asked him to report to the Union Home Ministry the next day.
The CBI, which has been seeking custodial interrogation of Kumar, issued the LoC this week alerting all airports and immigration authorities not to allow the IPS officer to leave the country for a year and to detain him if he tries to travel abroad, they said.
The 1989-batch IPS officer is accused of being involved in tampering of evidence and attempting to protect certain politicians from investigation in the Rs 2,500-crore Saradha chit fund scam when he headed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of West Bengal Police.
The CBI later took over the case.
The SIT was formed by the Mamata Banerjee government in 2013. In 2014, the apex court transferred the case to the CBI.
The CBI had told the Supreme Court that it wanted custodial interrogation of Kumar as there was prima facie evidence that he tried to protect the accused.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had vacated its order granting protection to Kumar from arrest. Now, the apex court has allowed the CBI to “act in accordance with law”.
The CBI questioned Kumar for nearly five days in Shillong from February 9.
The Saradha group of companies duped lakhs of customers promising higher rates of returns on their investment, the CBI has alleged.
–IANS
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