Saradha scam: Special court refuses to hear Rajeev Kumar’s anticipatory bail plea

Kumar, who is currently the Additional Director General of Police in the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), was to appear before the CBI by 2 pm Monday for questioning but failed to turn up. The agency visited the state secretariat, Nabanna, in Howrah and handed over two letters to the Chief Secretary and Home Secretary seeking information on the whereabouts of Kumar.

It was the second occasion on which Kumar failed to report for interrogation. He has been on leave since last Tuesday.

The development comes days after the Calcutta High Court, on September 13, withdrew Kumar’s protection from custodial interrogation. The HC also rejected his plea to quash the CBI notice seeking his appearance for questioning.

“The application filed by the petitioner was turned down by the court. All interim orders passed earlier by this court was vacated. The judge commented during the order that none is above the law,” CBI’s counsel Anirban Mitra said.

Kumar was a member of the special investigation team of Kolkata Police in the Saradha chit fund scam probe. He is accused of tampering with evidence in the case.