Kolkata Police Commissioner Reaches Shillong For CBI Questioning; Trinamool Workers Protest Outside Agency’s HQ

Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar arrived in Shillong yesterday (Friday, 8 February 2019) to be questioned as part of a CBI investigation into chit fund scams in West Bengal, reports The Indian Express. Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress workers protested outside the CBI’s headquarters at CGO complex, accusing the centre of political interference in the working of the agency.

The group travelling with Kumar included three senior police officers from West Bengal, including Deputy Commissioner of Special Task Force Murlidhar Sharma.

Kumar’s consent to be questioned by the CBI comes a few days following a Supreme Court ruling directing him to cooperate with the investigative agency in its probe; the apex court had also ordered the CBI not to take any coercive measures such as arresting Kumar.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had called off her three-day dharna after the judgement, hailing it as a ‘moral victory’. The very same day a ten-member team of the CBI led by Joint Director for Eastern Region Pankaj Srivastava landed in Kolkata to carry on the investigation.

The CBI had asserted before the Supreme Court that Kumar had destroyed and tampered call records needed as evidence against a main accused, among other instances of concealing evidence. The agency accused him of violating provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act as well as the Indian Penal Code.

As for its part, the Trinamool Congress has always maintained that the centre is attempting to crack down against the opposition using the CBI. TMC MLA Sujit Bose headed a demonstration outside the CBI headquarters.

Bose accused the Modi government of targeting the opposition at a personal level due to the BJP facing political setbacks.

Also read: ‘Mamata Government Hostile To CBI In Saradha Scam, Government Machinery Has Damaged All Evidence’: Officials