There was high drama outside Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar’s house on Loudon Steet on Sunday evening, as a team of officers of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) reached outside his official residence around 6.10 pm. They were stopped from entering and a part of the team of officers went to the nearby Park Street police station, and after an hour or so, a group of officers were apparently “held” by the Kolkata Police.
There were some reports in the media on Saturday which claimed that the CBI was “looking for” Kumar to interrogate him in connection with the Saradha and Rose Valley chit fund scams, and that he had “gone missing”. These reports said quoting CBI officers that the central investigating agency might arrest him. These reports were refuted by chief minister Mamata Banerjee earlier today. The Kolkata Police authorities too wrote a post on their Facebook page saying the CP was in Kolkata and attending office. The Kolkata Police also threatened legal action against these reports.
On Sunday evening, when the CBI teams reached outside the CP’s official residence on Loudon Street, there was apparently a “warrant” or “permission” with the officials — which could not be confirmed — and the CBI officers went from Park Street to Shakespeare Sarani police station in order to execute it. Various teams of CBI officers (there were nearly 45 officers in the different teams) waited different areas — including outside the CP’s house.
Some of the officers were then led to a Kolkata Police vehicle and taken to Shakespeare Sarani police station. It was not clear if they had been “detained”. Along with this sudden development, a huge contingent of police was sent to the CGO complex, which houses the CBI office. There was another team sent to Nizam Palace which houses another CBI office. This in other words, meant that police from West Bengal and Kolkata took control of the area outside the CBI offices, and no officer could go in or come out from there.
Around 7 pm, Chief minister Mamata Banerjee went to CP Rajeev Kumar’s house, and was holding a meeting with him and other senior officers. This has now turned into a direct confrontation between the CBI and the police in West Bengal, or rather, a confrontation between Narendra Modi and Mamata Banerjee.
PM Modi on Saturday had addressed rallies in West Bengal and said that he was an honest man and asked why Banerjee was afraid of investigations.
