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Centre may quiz Kolkata top cop Rajeev Kumar amid spat with Mamata Banerjee govt
The Centre is likely to seek an explanation from Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar who is at the centre of a spat between North Block and Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal.
The Centre is likely to seek an explanation from Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar who is at the centre of a spat between North Block and Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal.
“Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to West Bengal governor Keshari Nath Tripathi last night to get a brief about the situation,” a senior MHA official who did not want to be identified said.
An attempt by the Central Bureau of Investigation to question Kumar on Sunday evening over his alleged involvement in the Saradha chit fund scam snowballed into a major political controversy. Mamata Banerjee started an indefinite dharna in protest against the Centre, which is still ongoing.
On the other hand, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today, referring to the incident in Parliament, Home Minister Rajnath Singh termed the developments in West Bengal as “unprecedented” and said that the Centre has powers to take action.
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Reports from the security establishment to the Union Home Ministry suggests that actions of the Kolkata Police weren’t “spontaneous”, a senior official in the security establishment handling the incident who didn’t want to be named said. “We have reasons to believe that actions of the Kolkata Police were pre-planned,” he added.
The Centre will decide on the next course of action only after the Supreme Court hearing tomorrow, he said. The apex court is hearing a plea by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on alleged obstruction of investigations.
“Reports about intimidation of CBI officers, a threat to personal safety when investigating the Saradha investigations” has been taken seriously, he said and added that “the governor also summoned the chief secretary and the Director General of Police of West Bengal”.
Earlier today, the Ministry of Home Affairs asked the state to clarify the conduct of Police officers allegedly “obstructing investigations and violations of Service Conduct Rules”.
The latter query pertains Kumar presence in agitation led by West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. Kumar headed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) appointed by the Mamta Banerjee’s government to investigate the Saradha scam in 2013.
