Former Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar on Monday filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court, accusing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) of “targeting” him in the Saradha chit fund case as part of a “larger conspiracy” by two Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders.

Naming Bengal BJP leader Mukul Roy and party’s general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya in the affidavit, Kumar said the two leaders can be heard talking about “targeting” a few “senior police officers” in an audio clip, which he said was available in the public domain.

“The sudden inexplicable turn by the petitioner/CBI in pointing out problems with the investigation and targeting the alleged contemnor seems to be borne out of a larger conspiracy between two senior leaders Mukul Roy and Kailash Vijaywargiya of the BJP, the ruling party at the Centre,” the affidavit said. Roy and Vijaywargiya could not be reached for a comment.

The CBI had moved the SC on Saturday seeking permission for “custodial interrogation” of Kumar in the Saradha case. The central agency said that Kumar needed to be questioned to “unravel” the larger conspiracy and the “money trail” in the scam. Kumar has been accused of being evasive and non-cooperative.

The SC had on February 5 restrained the agency from resorting to any “coercive action” against Kumar, including arrest. However, in its application CBI wants the top court to recall this order. It also wants to interrogate some other Bengal police officers in connection with the scam.

In his affidavit, Kumar said he has been targeted due to political vendetta and “this apprehension is corroborated by the contents of an audio clip that was reported widely by the press and electronic media at the time where the said leaders clearly speak of ‘targeting’ a few ‘senior police officers’ of the state”.

Earlier in the day, Kumar told the SC that he could not file his response to the CBI’s plea seeking his arrest in the Saradha chit fund case and sought adjournment of the hearing.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi took note of the submission of senior advocate Indira Jaising, appearing for Kumar, and postponed the hearing on the plea of the probe agency till April 22.

First Published: Apr 16, 2019 03:56 IST