Police pick holes in CBI's charges ... Gist of findings, not evidence, in affidavit

Monalisa Chaudhuri, TT, 6 February 2019, Calcutta: Sources in Calcutta police headquarters said commissioner Rajeev Kumar was not the functional head of the special team for probe into chit fund cases, as claimed by the CBI in the affidavit, and alleged that the central agency was under pressure to justify its “raid” on his residence.

“Kumar was not the functional head of the SIT (Special Investigation Team). Instead, ADG CID was the head who would seek data from all units and collate these before giving the same to the CBI,” said a police source.

Another source sought to counter the allegations of tampering with evidence against Kumar and said: “It is alleged that the CDRs which were handed over on June 28, 2018, were tampered with. But he (Rajeev) had joined Calcutta police in February 2016 and hence, he was in no way involved in handing over the allegedly edited CDR.”

The source added that the CDR had been requested (by the CBI) from Bidhannagar Commisssionerate in 2018 and was handed over in 2018. “First, he was not there at that time. Also, why do they need the CDR from Bidhannagar when they can get it from the service provider?”

Police sources said Kumar had nothing to do with the case registered in Durgapur, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Asansol commissionerate.

A source close to the commissioner said given the “baseless allegations,” he might consider to bring charges of wilfully giving false information to the court.