Rajeev Kumar headed a special investigation team into Saradha chit fund scam
The Central Bureau of Investigation has sought custodial interrogation of former Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar, who had been probing the Saradha chit fund scam in West Bengal.
The probe agency said it needs to take Mr Kumar into custody to question him about the finer details of the case.
Mr Kumar was heading a special investigation team that was looking into the chit fund scam. The CBI told the court a number of evidence linked to the case has gone missing.
On February 3, a team of CBI officers was stopped from entering Mr Kumar's home in Kolkata when they had gone to question him in connection with the chit fund scam cases. The move had prompted Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to start a sit-in-protest in the heart of the city against what she called was an "the attack on constitutional norms".
Over a week later, acting on the Supreme Court's order, the CBI questioned Mr Kumar for five days in Shillong. The top court had also ordered that no coercive action can be taken against Rajeev Kumar and he cannot be arrested.
The Saradha scam was a major financial fraud which lured lakhs of investors to deposit money in its schemes with glossy brochures and the promise of abnormally high returns. An official estimate says Saradha had mopped up about Rs 1,200 crore through its chit funds, but some calculations put that the figure closer to Rs 4,000 crore. The company collapsed in April 2013.
The opposition had alleged that Ms Banerjee's Trinamool Congress had close links with Sudipta Sen, the chairman of the chit fund group. The perceived closeness allegedly also helped it get investors and agents on board.