Kolkata top cop questioned again

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) questioned Kolkata Police commissioner Rajeev Kumar for the second consecutive day in Shillong on Sunday in connection with the Saradha ponzi scandal, an official of the agency said.

During interrogation, Kumar was brought face to face with former Trinamool Congress parliamentarian Kunal Ghosh, who too has been brought to the Shillong office for investigation. Ghosh was arrested in 2013 and subsequently suspended by the party.

He has been out on bail since 2016.

Initially, Ghosh was interviewed in a separate room, but they were brought together briefly late in evening, the official said. Kumar’s questioning began around 10:30am, the official added. The 1989 batch IPS officer was questioned for about eight hours on Saturday.

The Central Bureau of Investigation is probing allegations against Kumar relating to the chit fund scandal in which at least two million people were cheated out of their savings by the Saradha Group. The case involved financial irregularities to the tune of ₹10,000 crore.

It came to light in 2013 when the firm, which had several other business interests, collapsed.

The agency’s charge against Kumar, who led a special investigation team that probed the case, is that he compromised evidence in the probe.

The Supreme Court has directed Kumar to appear before the CBI and cooperate in the investigation of cases arising out of the scandal. The court chose Shillong as the neutral meeting place “to avoid all unnecessary controversy” and made it clear that Kumar would not be arrested. The CBI approached the Supreme Court after its officials were thwarted by Kolkata Police when they had gone to Kumar’s official residence in the city to question him on February 3.