Kolkata: Former Enforcement Directorate (ED) officer Manoj Kumar, who had played a leading role in the Central agency’s investigation in the Saradha and the Rose Valley chit fund scams, was arrested by the police after he surrendered himself at the Bank shall court on Wednesday in connection with an extortion case.
Mr Kumar was booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act for allegedly extorting money from a city-based businessman. It was the last day of a week-long deadline for his surrender set by the supreme court while rejecting his bail earlier. Mr Kumar was sent to the police custody by the court till May 12 after the police requested remand. Mr Kumar was taken to the Shakespeare Sarani police station where he is being interrogated by the police. According to sources, the police have come across ill-gotten wealth allegedly owned by him in Uttar Pradesh.
Mr Kumar was posted as the assistant director at the ED’s Kolkata branch office in Salt Lake on deputation. During his tenure, he led the investigation in the two major chit fund scams.
Mr Kumar however earned suspension by the central agency early in February after he was caught by the Kolkata Police travelling with Shubhra Kundu, wife of arrested Rose Valley Group owner Goutam Kundu, and allegedly helping her siphoning off huge amount of money.
Mr Kumar came under the scanner again after a chartered accountant, Kamal Somani, lodged a complaint of extortion at the Shakespeare Sarani police station on February 28 against Mr Kumar and Pradeep Kumar Hirawat, a businessman from Old China Bazar.
In his complaint, Mr Somani alleged that on May 12 last year, his office and residence were raided by an ED team led by Mr Kumar. He claimed that Mr Hirawat extorted several lakhs of money from him posing as a “front-man” of Mr Kumar. On March 1 this year, Mr Hirawat was arrested by the police. During the interrogation, he claimed of working at the behest of Mr Kumar, according to sources.
