CBI summons ex-Kolkata police chief, asks him to appear before it on Monday

The CBI has summoned former Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar, asking him to appear before it on Monday for questioning in connection with the Saradha ponzi scheme case, officials said.

Kumar, a 1989-batch IPS officer, has been asked to be present at the Kolkata office of the agency in Salt Lake, officials said on Sunday.

The CBI has also issued a Look Out Notice against Kumar to prevent him from leaving the country, officials said.

All the airports and immigration authorities have been alerted by the CBI to prevent him from leaving the country and intimate the agency about any possible move, they said.

The agency wants custodial interrogation of Kumar in connection with the ponzi scheme case as he was heading the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the West Bengal police to probe the case before the CBI took over, the officials said.

The probe agency had told the Supreme Court that custodial interrogation of Kumar was necessary as he was not co-operating in the probe and he was "evasive" and "arrogant" in answering the queries put to him during his questioning by the agency.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who was appearing for the CBI, had said Kumar was the incharge of investigation by the SIT and had allowed the release of mobile phones and laptops, containing crucial records of alleged involvement of political functionaries in the scam, which were seized from the accused.

Mehta had said the seized mobile phones and laptops were not even sent for forensic examination and material evidence were destroyed in the case