Bhubaneswar: The CBI Sunday interrogated a senior police officer of Odisha for his alleged link with a man who was arrested by the investigating agency in connection with the multi-crore-rupee chit fund scam.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) quizzed Rajesh Kumar, the deputy inspector general (DIG) of Odisha’s north-central range, for over three hours.
CBI sources said the Indian police service (IPS) officer was questioned for his alleged link with Subhankar Nayak, who is believed to have close relations with top bureaucrats and brokered deals on behalf of chit fund company Seashore Group.
“I have told the CBI whatever I had to tell them,” Rajesh Kumar told the media after his interrogation.
He is the first IPS officer to be questioned in connection with the scam. Earlier, the probe agency interrogated several politicians and other people.
Rajesh Kumar was DIG of Economic Offences Wing of the Crime Branch before he assumed the charge as DIG of north-central range. Interestingly, he was monitoring the probe into the chit fund scams, including the Seashore Group.
CBI sources said the agency got clue about Rajesh Kumar’s alleged involvement in the scam from the diaries seized from the house of Nayak. The CBI also found involvement of several bureaucrats from the seized diaries.
The Seashore Group is alleged to have duped people of about Rs.1,500 crore while it had signed MoUs with the state government in the tourism, health and cooperative sectors.