The Mamata Banerjee government’s appointment of Rajeev Kumar as acting director general of police on Wednesday triggered allegations from the Opposition that it was the chief minister’s gift to the officer who had allegedly bailed her out of the Saradha deposit-mobilising scam.
Kumar takes over charge of the state police force from Manoj Malaviya, who retired on Wednesday.
However, a section of senior officers in the home department said the appointment was awaiting clearance from the department of personnel and training (DoPT).
Multiple sources in the state civil and police administration said that Kumar’s elevation from the state’s secretary of information technology department is likely to come under severe scrutiny given his track record.
The IPS officer was removed from the post of Calcutta’s police commissioner by the Election Commission of India in April 2016 in the middle of Bengal Assembly polls following complaints of bias from Bengal Opposition parties — the Left, the Congress and the BJP.
“The DoPT may question Kumar’s choice given his alleged role in the Saradha case, which is still under investigation,” a senior officer in the state administration said.
The CBI has been probing Kumar’s role in the Saradha scam. To evade arrest, the IPS officer of 1989-batch moved the Supreme Court in 2019, which declined to entertain Kumar’s plea for an extension of immunity from arrest.
The Left and the Congress have questioned the slow progress in the case and hinted at a “setting” between Trinamul and the BJP.
“When the CBI had come knocking on the doors of Rajeev Kumar, then Calcutta’s police commissioner, Mamata Banerjee had hit the streets. Later, she approached the Prime Minister to ensure his immunity,” said Sujan Chakraborty of the CPM.
He was referring to February 2019 when the CBI went to Kumar’s Loudon Street residence to interrogate him in the Saradha case, following which Mamata sat in protest.
“Kumar is liked by both the Prime Minister and chief minister and so has been made the DGP,” Chakraborty added.
“Kumar as the head of the investigation team in the Saradha scam helped chief minister Mamata Banerjee by tampering with evidence collected during the probe,” Suvendu Adhikari, BJP’s Leader of the Opposition, alleged, adding that ahead of the New Year, “this is Mamata Banerjee’s return gift to Rajeev Kumar for bailing her out”.
Some Trinamul leaders recalled Kumar’s role in the death of Kishanji aka Koteswar Rao, the Maoist leader of Jungle Mahal, who was killed in an encounter in November 2011.
Many believe Kumar played a crucial role in this operation and won people’s trust. In January 2012, Kumar was appointed the commissioner of the newly formed Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate.
After the alleged irregularities in the Saradha scam broke out in 2013, Kumar was made the head of the Special Task Force in charge of the investigation.
Kumar and his team arrested Sudipta Sen, who chaired the Saradha Group, along with two of his aides from Jammu and Kashmir in April 2013.
Seven months later, Kumar arrested Trinamul leader Kunal Ghosh for his alleged role in the scam.
“Rajeev Kumar is an efficient and capable police officer. I recently met him and we even exchanged pleasantries,” Ghosh said. “My appeal would be that he should ensure no one is arrested wrongly like me,” he added, giving Kumar a back-handed compliment.
Controversies apart, several senior police officers on Wednesday said that Kumar proved his abilities time and again as a police officer. They said he has been one of the finest officers in terms of capabilities despite charges of snooping into the mobile phones of Opposition leaders.
Kumar gave vital inputs to Delhi and Mumbai Police STFs and played a role in cases like the American Center attack of 2002, and the abduction of the Khadim shoe baron in 2001, they said.
