Former Kolkata Top Cop Rajeev Kumar posted as principal secretary in WB's IT Department

Former Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar has been transferred from his post of Additional Deputy General of Crime Investigation Department (CID) and made the new Principal Secretary in the Information Technology department in the government of West Bengal.

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In September 2019, there erupted a massive manhunt by the CBI in trying to locate the former top of Kolkata in connection with the multi-crore Saradha scam. The Central Bureau of Investigation carried out searches at 5 locations in Kolkata, including the IPS officers' mess to locate the whereabouts of Kumar. The senior IPS officer who was enjoying protection from any kind of 'custodial interrogation' by CBI on orders of Calcutta High Court went untraceable after his protection was withdrawn by the same court in September.

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Connection with Saradha case

A month-long chase by CBI ended in October when a division bench of the same Calcutta High Court granted Rajeev Kumar anticipatory bail in connection to the Saradha case stating that it was an appropriate case for custodial interrogation. A bench comprising justices S Munshi and S Dasgupta had stated that if Kumar is arrested in connection with the above-mentioned case then he will have to be released on bail by an appropriate court on two sureties of Rs 50,000 each. Following this order, Rajeev Kumar was seen in Alipore court after almost a month of disappearance. 

The CBI had later filed an appeal in the Supreme Court against the October 1st order of the Calcutta High Court which had granted Kumar relief stating that it was not an appropriate case for custodial interrogation. The hearing of the same is still on and no conclusion has been reached yet.

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The Saradha group of companies allegedly duped lakhs of people to the tune of Rs 2,500 crore, promising higher rates of return on their investments. Kumar was part of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) set up by the West Bengal government for probing the scam before the Supreme Court handed over the case to the CBI in 2014, along with other chit fund cases. The Saradha chit fund scam was unearthed in 2013 during Kumar's tenure as the Bidhannagar Police commissioner.

In January, the Centre and the West Bengal government were loggerheads in a standoff after a CBI team had reached Kumar's official residence for questioning him but had to retreat as the local police detained its officers. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had come out in Kumar's defense and sat in protest against the move.

In February, the Supreme Court had prevented the CBI from taking any coercive action against Kumar and directed Kumar to cooperate with the agency for questioning at a neutral place. The former top cop was then quizzed by the agency for around 40 hours over five days at its office in Shillong in February, following which CBI had been asking for custodial interrogation of Kumar.

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Former Kolkata Police chief Rajeev Kumar posted as principal secy in WB's IT Department