EVEN AS THE first phase of the general elections commenced on April 11, trouble seemed to be brewing for the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal. The reason: the state machinery’s tussle with the CBI over the latter’s probe into the Saradha case and other Ponzi scams.
On April 5, the CBI moved a petition in the Supreme Court seeking recall of the court’s order of February 5, which granted interim protection, from “coercive steps, including arrest”, to former Kolkata Police commissioner Rajeev Kumar (now additional director general (CID), West Bengal Police). The CBI said this was necessary to reveal the “entire gamut of larger conspiracy” as Kumar had looked after the day to day affairs of the special investigation team (SIT) that probed the Ponzi scams. The apex court, on April 8, sought Kumar’s response within four weeks.
The CBI also submitted a special prayer asking the court to direct authorities in West Bengal not to create hurdles for it, like the unprecedented incident on February 3, when the state police arrested and manhandled CBI officers who had tried to interrogate Kumar, who is known to be close to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The CBI also said its officers were slapped with fabricated cases whenever they tried to interrogate Trinamool members.
The Ponzi scheme cases were transferred to the CBI by the Supreme Court in May 2014. The CBI has filed one charge-sheet and six supplementary charge-sheets in its primary case against the Saradha Group. It told the court that the principal amount collected in the Saradha scam was Rs 2,459.59 crore and the principal amount not refunded to investors was Rs 1,983.02 crore. (Including the interests promised, the unpaid amount is estimated to be around Rs 30,000 crore). And, though the CBI has arrested many prominent personalities, including MPs, MLAs and ministers, a senior CBI officer, on conditions of anonymity, said that there were bigger conspirators from “politics, social circuits and the cultural world” involved in the Saradha scam. The February showdown is therefore seen as an attempt to protect these people.
Following the stand-off, the CBI moved a contempt petition in the Supreme Court against West Bengal Chief Secretary Malay Dey and others, citing lack of assistance in its investigation. On March 19, the CBI submitted two documents—an affidavit by the CBI Director Rishi Shukla in relation with the contempt petition and a report on Kumar’s interrogation by the CBI in Shillong on February 9. Kumar had met the CBI after the court asked him to cooperate, while granting him interim protection. On March 26, after perusing the documents, the court said the revelations made by the CBI were serious. Interestingly, while the March 19 affidavit did not focus on Kumar, the plea filed on April 5 came down heavily on him.
The CBI alleged that Kumar did not tell the truth during the interrogation in Shillong, which lasted for over 40 hours across five days. The CBI said that he came without any documents pertaining to the SIT probe and that his tone and body language indicated that he was trying to shield somebody. The CBI added that other members of the SIT would have to be arrested, if the need arose.
The CBI cited a letter written by Sudipta Sen, chairman and MD of Saradha Group, in which he had alleged former Trinamool Rajya Sabha MPs Kunal Ghosh and Srinjoy Bose, businessman Santanu Ghosh, Nalini Chidambaram (wife of P. Chidambaram), Assamese politician Matang Sinh and his wife Manoranjana had links with the Saradha Group. Kumar, said the CBI, conceded the fact that a copy of the letter was received by his office, but did not explain why all the allegations were not investigated. “Only Kunal Ghosh was charge-sheeted,” said the CBI.
The CBI also said that a laptop and five mobile phones seized from Sen and Debjani Mukherjee, executive director of the Saradha Group, were returned to Mukherjee, while she was in judicial custody, without forensic examination. Kumar said he could not recall whether he had given permission to return them, said the CBI’s plea. However, the SIT gave a no-objection certificate. The CBI said this could not have happened without Kumar’s knowledge and argued that returning the items was a deliberate act done to damage the investigation.
The CBI also noted that the salaries of Tara TV, a channel owned by the Saradha Group, were paid from the chief minister’s relief fund. Dey said that the money—Rs 6.21 crore—was disbursed in compliance with an order by the Calcutta High Court. But the CBI quoted the order which said that the salary should be paid from available funds. The question now being why “available funds” was interpreted as the distress relief fund.
The most crucial evidence for the CBI was the call details records (CDRs) of around 70,000 calls made from five mobile numbers belonging to Sen and Mukherjee. As per the CBI affidavit, the state police provided incomplete CDRs, after a 14-month delay, and there has been no progress since. The CBI also alleged that Kumar “pressurised” service providers not to issue CDRs. THE WEEK’s text message to Kumar seeking comments did not get a reply. The CBI even filed a case against two leading service providers for not giving it the full CDRs. The CBI compared the CDRs it received from the police to corresponding CDRs it received from service providers, and discrepancies were found for a number held by Mukherjee. According to a senior intelligence officer involved in call intercepting, such discrepancies are the fallout of “major tampering”.
Thanks to multiple anomalies, the CBI has cast a cloud on the SIT’s investigation into the Ponzi schemes. The outcome of this battle will depend on Kumar’s reply to the CBI’s plea. But it is starting to look like an uphill task.