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In CBI vs Kolkata Police face-off, Rajnath Singh delivers a sharp warning
The showdown began on Sunday when a CBI team reached Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar’s house to question him over the Saradha scam.
The tussle between the Mamata Banerjee government and the Centre has snowballed into an opposition versus BJP fight. Home minister Rajnath Singh told the Lok Sabha on Monday that the incident in Kolkata is a threat to the federal structure of the country.
Rajnath Singh said the Kolkata Police-CBI face-off was unfortunate. “The incident in Kolkata is threat to federal political system of country. There may be constitutional breakdown in West Bengal,” he said. (Follow Live Updates here)
The showdown began on Sunday when a CBI team reached Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar’s house to question him over the Saradha scam. In retaliation, Kolkata Police also sent its teams to the CBI offices in the the city and the residence of CBI’s West Bengal unit chief Pankaj Srivastava.
Rajnath, who was addressing the House amid slogans by opposition members, said the Centre has power to maintain normalcy in any part of the country. His reply came after the Trinamool Congress raised the issue in Parliament.
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“The Kolkata police commissioner was not cooperating in the CBI probe into the ponzi scam cases. Several summons were issued to him,” the home minister said.
Both the Houses of Parliament—Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha— were rocked by bopposition protests against the NDA government. After repeated adjournments, both the Houses were adjourned for the day.
Trinamool Congress leader Saugata Roy said there is a crisis in Bengal and the central government was “misusing” the CBI to politically capture the state. “The Centre is constantly using the CBI to throttle the opposition,” Roy said.
Also read: Rajeev Kumar: The Kolkata police commissioner at the centre of Mamata, Centre tussle
The CBI moved the Supreme Court on Monday seeking directions to Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar to cooperate with the investigation in Saradha chit fund case. The CBI told the court that Kolkata Police chief Rajeev Kumar had not cooperated with its probe and was suspected to have attempted to destroy evidence. “If Kolkata Police Commissioner even remotely thinks of destroying evidence, bring the material before this Court. We will come down so heavily on him that he will regret,” Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi said.
The court will hear the matter on Tuesday and has asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to file an affidavit listing all its points.
West Bengal Governor K N Tripathi has submitted a report to Rajnath Singh on the situation that unfolded in Kolkata on Sunday night. Rajnath Singh had called up the governor to know the facts of the incident.
Tripathi had last night summoned the state chief secretary and state director general of police and asked them to take immediate action to resolve the situation.
