Kolkata : At a time when the CBI is desperately searching for Rajeev Kumar,who they claimed in “untraceable” a suspected accused in the chit fund scam case after High Court rejected his protection against arrest, chief minister Mamata Banerjee is scheduled to leave for Delhi on Tuesday and sought an appointment to meet with the Prime Minister on Wednesday.
The CPI(M) claimed that, the understanding between TMC and BJP had again come to the fore soon after Banerjee decided to meet with Prime Minister after the the CBI issued look out notice for Kumar .
CPI-(M )leader, Sujan Chakraborty said, “The understanding between TMC and BJP once again became prominent with Mamata Banerjee meeting PM, just two days after the CBI has issued a look out notice for Kumar. Can it be called a co-incidence or it’s just a meeting between the duo to discuss about the welfare of the state?”
Senior officials of the state government claimed that chief minister is likely to meet with Prime Minister on Wednesday and is likely to speak with the issues of NRC and urging him not to implement it in Bengal and also urging him not to corporatise Ordinance Factory Board. She is likely to discuss on the pros and cons for the disinvestment of Air India and BSNL, and merger of banks.
According to senior BJP leaders in the state, Banerjee has decided to meet with the Prime Minister to settle the case , as CBI is desperately searching for Kumar in the chit fund scam case .
Rahul Sinha, national secretary of West Bengal BJP , said: “ Why chief minister is going to New Delhi on Tuesday to meet with the Prime Minister, when CBI is desperately looking for Kumar to interrogate in the chit fund scam case. We feel that he wants to settle the issue and that’s why she has chosen this date to meet with Modi.”
Mukul Roy, BJP leader said ” I am sure that Banerjee wants to settle the issue of Rajeev Kumar with PM and that’s why she went to Delhi to meet with PM.”
The entire Rajeev Kumar fiasco
Kumar who is currently holding the position of additional director general, CID is an IIT graduate and since Calcutta High Court rejected his protection from arrest by CBI, he is absconding. Kumar has earlier appealed to Calcutta High Court seeking to quash the proceedings against him in the CBI court . Three days back Calcutta High Court rejected his protection .On Monday CBI has appealed to a lower court in Bengal to issue arrest warrant against Kumar. Despite repeated letters sent by the CBI to his residence and in the CID office, to present himself before the CBI he remained absent. As a result on Monday, the CBI officials sent two messengers to Nabanna and sent a letter addressing to the DG , home secretary and chief secretary instructing them to provide the where-abouts of Kumar .
Sources in the state secretariat said: “While the DG’s office has already sent a reply to the CBI claiming that he is under leave for 17 days, the home secretary and chief secretary are yet to respond to the letter sent by the CBI” .
Kumar, an IIT graduate was appointed the head of the special investigation team(SIT) to carry out the probe into the Sarada scam because of his proximity towards the ruling party. When the Left Front government was in power he had close proximity with former chief minister of West Bengal Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and he was a trusted lieutenant too. He quickly gained a reputation from Banerjee for being highly competent and efficient, as he was technologically superior than his peers and possesses a cunning mind giving him an edge over others.
It may be mentioned that on February when the CBI went to Kumar’s residence at Park Street in Kolkata to arrest him, chief minister Mamata Banerjee rushed to Kumar’s defence and organised a 45- ‘Save the Constitution’ dharna at the Metro Channel in Kolkata that was joined by police officers as well as Opposition politicians from other parts of the country.