Saradha scam: Rajeev Kumar fails to turn up at CBI office

Senior IPS officer Rajeev Kumar failed to turn up at the city's CBI office yet again on Friday, a day after the agency issued a fresh notice, asking him to appear before it in connection with the probe into Saradha chit fund scam, sources said.

The former Kolkata police commissioner is alleged to have suppressed evidence crucial for the investigation into the multi-crore ponzi scam.

This was the third occasion since Saturday Kumar defied CBI summons to appear before its investigating team at the CGO complex office in Salt Lake.

A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) team had been searching for Kumar, who is now the Additional Director General of Police in the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), across various locations in Kolkata.

In a letter to the West Bengal Director General of Police (DGP), the agency had on Thursday sought Kumar's phone number on which he could be contacted.

Kumar was part of a special investigation team (SIT) 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 CBI had moved Alipore court in the city on Thursday, seeking an arrest warrant for Kumar.

Disposing off the agency's prayer, the court said the CBI does not need its warrant against Kumar, as the Supreme Court and the Calcutta High Court had already lifted bar on his arrest in the chit fund case.

The Saradha group of companies allegedly duped lakhs of people to the tune of Rs 2500 crore, promising higher rates of return on their investments.