BIG DEVELOPMENT: Centre to strip medals off IPS officers who took part in Mamata Banerjee's Dharna

In a massive development following the high-drama in Kolkata earlier this week, Republic TV has learnt that the central government will strip the medals off IPS officers who participated in the dharna of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, and will also bar them from central deputation.

The officers who this will apply to include:

• Virendra ('85 cadre), DGP W.B
• Vineet Kumar Goel ('94 cadre) ADG, Director, Security
• Anuj Sharma ('91 cadre) ADG L&O
• Gyanwant Singh ('93 cadre), CP, Bidhannagar
• Supratim Sarkar ('97 cadre) CP

The dharna had been sparked after a CBI team that had come to question Kolkata CP Rajeev Kumar in relation to the Saradha chit fund scam had been obstructed and then detained by the Kolkata police. West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee had arrived there shortly after and had begun a dharna that lasted 2 days. It was at that point that a number of Kolkata and WB Police officials joined in with her in the Dharna.

READ | Dramatic CBI Vs Kolkata Police Face-off Spirals Out Of Control

Over many addresses to the public during the course of the dharna, she had levelled attacks at the Modi government, accusing it of using the CBI to intimidate her dispensation, and had in a tweet hailed the top-cop in question, Rajeev Kumar, as the "best in the world". However, a number of investigations by Republic Bharat into the Saradha scam have highlighted how Kumar allegedly tampered and distorted evidence in the Rs 40,000 chit-fund scam during the time that he was leading the SIT probe into it, before the probe was handed over to the CBI by the Supreme Court. The destruction of evidence angle had been substantiated by then-Interim Director CBI Nageshwar Rao while speaking to Republic's Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami, and later, formed the fulcrum of the CBI's arguments against Rajeev Kumar in the Supreme Court. Remarking on the matter, the CJI had said that if evidence against Rajeev Kumar regarding this was found, serious action would be taken against him. 

However, Rajeev Kumar was handed a slap on the wrists by the Supreme Court based on a CBI plea, with a three-judge bench directing him to appear before the CBI in Shillong - a neutral location, and also issued contempt of court notices against the West Bengal Chief Secretary, the West Bengal DGP and one more officer.