CBI to seek SC permission to grill Sudipta Sen, aide

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is likely to move the Supreme Court seeking permission to quiz Saradha Group Chairman Sudipta Sen and his close aide Debjani Mukherjee in connection with the chit fund case.

The premier probe agency, which is questioning Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar in the Saradha and Rose Valley chit fund scams in Meghalaya's capital Shillong, will further examine Kumar for another three to four days more.

Tuesday was the fourth consecutive day that Kumar was questioned by the CBI.

"We are likely to seek the Supreme Court permission to question Sen and Mukherjee in Shillong," a CBI official told IANS on condition of anonymity.

"If granted permission, we will make Sen and Mukherjee confront Kumar on the chit fund scams," the official added.

Former Trinamool Congress MP Kunal Ghosh, who arrived in Kolkata on Tuesday after being questioned by the CBI in Shillong, said that he has lodged an "official complaint" against the top cop for allegedly influencing the ongoing probe.

"I have lodged a written complaint with the CBI against Kumar today (Tuesday) morning. During our face to face interrogation on February 10, certain Kolkata Police officers were named. But Kumar called up some of those officers after leaving the CBI office that night," Ghosh said.

"When I had sought justice in 2013, Kumar had not cared for me. I felt bad to see that an IPS officer like him has to face hours of questioning like this. Had he played an active role at that time, he would not have to face the CBI interrogation in Shillong now," Ghosh said.

Ghosh had earlier implicated former Union Minister Mukul Roy, who has quit the Trinamool Congress to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and 12 others in the Saradha chit fund case.

Kumar arrived in Shillong on Friday evening from Kolkata via Guwahati after the Supreme Court directed him to join the CBI probe at a "neutral place" in Shillong.

He was accompanied by three senior state police officers -- Additional Police Commissioner Javed Shamim, Special Task Force chief Murlidhar Sharma and CID chief Praveen Kumar Tripathi.

--IANS

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