The Saradha Scam has taken a new twist with the CBI concentrating on questioning top police officials of West Bengal to unearth more information.
An official of the CBI told THE WEEK, “We have found that many documents are still missing and in the hands of the state police. We just asked them to hand over all of them.”
The officer refused to say who the investigating agencies have sent summons to for interrogation. But sources said that the letter has been sent from top to bottom—to as many as 20 officers of West Bengal and Kolkata police.
Highly placed sources in the West Bengal government said that the letter has been sent to West Bengal DGP Surajit Kar Purakayastha, City Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar and senior officers like Arnab Ghosh, now a superintendent-rank officer, as well as many middle-rank and junior officers.
Purakayastha, who had retired but is on extension, has been asked about the position of the officers placed in Bidhan Nagar police and the whereabouts of documents. Sources said all other officers have already been summoned by CBI to appear before their office in Salt Lake’s CGO complex.
While two junior officers recently visited the CBI office and submitted some documents related to the Saradha investigation, the country’s apex investigating agency called all of the documents “insufficient.” In fact, the CBI’s lawyer has already written to the Supreme Court, saying, “Many evidences have been destroyed.”
The Saradha investigation has been going on for the last three years and the Supreme Court and High Court have often asked about the pace of the investigations.
Facing a series of summons, Kolkata police had appealed to the Supreme Court that it was being 'harassed'; the court turned down its plea. Also, the Kolkata Police restarted their own probe into the Saradha scam and summoned some CBI officials, which the Supreme Court asked Kolkata police not to do.
Despite the CBI issuing summons, none of the officers have agreed to visit the CBI office in Kolkata.
Both the Kolkata police commissioner and the state DGP have refused to say anything on the matter.
“CBI should have done all this much before. They are doing this too late when most of the evidences have been wiped out,” said Arunava Ghosh, a senior advocate at the Calcutta High Court.
