ED officer with chit fund owner's wife: Can't draw conclusions: BJP

BJP's West Bengal unit chief Dilip Ghosh on Thursday said it was premature to draw a conclusion about the integrity of Enforcement Directorate officer Manoj Kumar over his alleged involvement with the Rose Valley owner's wife.

Some television channels have been beaming footage since Monday night purportedly showing Kumar and the woman together at the Kolkata airport and at a hotel said to be in Delhi.

Some channels have claimed the videos were released by the stated police but the latter did not confirm it when IANS posed the question.

"I have heard he (Kumar) is a very efficient officer. He has retrieved Rs 850 crore in the chit fund case. ED has immediately initiated a probe into the matter. So, the real facts will surely come out in time. I think we should not draw any final conclusion about the matter until then," Ghosh said.

Ghosh also said that he is not certain if what is shown in the CCTV footage is correct.

"It's true that the CCTV footage has shown them going to the hotel but what exactly happened is not clear. Some are saying he was honey-trapped but Kumar claimed he was keeping in touch with the woman for the sake of investigation. At least I am not certain that what we are seeing (in the footage) is correct," he added.

Kumar, who has been removed from the Rose Valley probe, however, had termed the accusations as part of a "larger conspiracy" to remove him from the investigation into the scam.

The Kolkata Police on Wednesday questioned the wife of scam-accused Rose Valley Chit Fund owner Gautam Kundu for her alleged involvement with Kumar.

--IANS

mgr/pgh/vt