For whom Mamata roared: The return of Rajeev Kumar as Bengal DGP

Then came February 2019, when the CBI raided Kumar’s house for investigation in connection with the Sarada chit fund case. In an unprecedented move, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee sat on a dharna at Kolkata’s Esplanade in protest. After about 70 odd hours, Banerjee ended her dharna after a Supreme Court order directed that no coercive steps including arrest should be taken against the Kolkata police commissioner. The Court had directed Kumar to “faithfully co operate’”with the investigative agency.

On Wednesday, Kumar, who was serving as the secretary of the state IT department, was appointed the state’s Director General of Police, bringing the officer’s alleged closeness to the TMC dispensation again in the spotlight.

From Mamata’s ‘reservations’ to top cop

Originally from Uttar Pradesh and a graduate from IIT Roorkee, the 58-year-old was first posted in the IPS as Subdivisional Police Officer in Chandannagar. He later became the police superintendent of Birbhum. In 2008, he was the joint commissioner of the Special Task Force of Kolkata Police.

And he was not always seen as Mamata’s man. A government source said that after she became the CM in 2011, Mamata actually had “reservations” about Kumar.

A senior police officer said top police officials were later “able to convince the CM of Kumar’s efficiency”.

In January 2012, Kumar was appointed Commissioner of Bidhannagar Police Commiserate. And after the Sarada chit fund scam broke in 2013, Kumar was made the head of the Special Task Force (STF) which investigated the case.

Kumar and his team went on to arrest the accused, businessmen Sudipto Sen and two of his associates, from Jammu and Kashmir in April 2013. Just a month later, the Supreme Court transferred all cases relating to the chit fund scam to the CBI.

Kumar was made the Commissioner of Kolkata Policein 2016. As polls approached and the Opposition brought up the phone tapping allegations, Kumar was removed from the post after the Election Commission directed the state government to do so. However, as soon as polls were over, he was brought back.

On February 3 2019, CBI teams visited Kumar’s residence to question him, alleging that he had tampered with ‘destroyed evidence and connived with accused persons’ as chief of STF, following which investigators of the central agency and Kolkata Police officers had a standoff. That was the evening Mamata initiated her dharna.

“What gave them (CBI) the audacity to raid the house of the police Commissioner without a search warrant? Rajeev Kumar is one of the best police officers. He is not involved in the Sarada scam. He only headed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) which we had formed to probe the Saradha scam. This is a deliberate attempt to harass the Opposition,” she said.

On February 9, the CBI grilled Kumar in Shillong. On February 20, he was removed from the post of Kolkata Police Commissioner and was posted in the CID. His last posting was as principal secretary of the state Information Technology department.

A retired police officer said Kumar had “played a major role in sharing inputs on anti-terrorism cells”.

“His skill in electronic surveillance was known by investigative agencies throughout the country,” the officer said.

“During his stint in Kolkata Police STF, he was instrumental in nabbing terrorists and busting fake currency rackets. He had a major role to play in the arrest of accused persons including Aftab Ansari who was the mastermind of high-profile cases like the American Center attack (2002) and the Khadim owner’s abduction (2001),” the officer added.

According to senior police officers, Kumar also played a big hand in controlling Maoists operations in the state and was key in the arrest of Chattradhar Mahato, the leader a Maoist frontal organisation called the People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities.