HC extends arrest shield for Rajeev Kumar by a day

The Calcutta High Court on Thursday extended the protection from arrest to former Kolkata Police commissioner Rajeev Kumar by a day in the Saradha chit-fund scam.

The single bench of Justice Madhumita Mitra refused to extend Kumar's interim protection beyond August 30, noting that the case has been going on for a long time.

Kumar's counsel had appealed to the court for a five-day extension of protection from arrest for the senior police officer till September 2.

The court had previously extended the interim protection granted to the former Kolkata top cop twice.

Kumar, currently the ADG of West Bengal CID department, had moved the court seeking quashing of a CBI notice asking him to appear before the agency in connection with the multi-crore rupee ponzi scam case.

Kumar, who headed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the state police that probed the Saradha scam, is accused of tampering with evidence in the case.

An unprecedented chain of events had unfolded on February 3 when a CBI team reached Kumar's residence to question him. The team was detained, taken to a police station and was later released.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had also visited the officer's residence. IANS