KOLKATA: The West Bengal government on Wednesday appointed former Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar as the state’s Director General of Police (DGP).
Kumar, known for his proximity with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, headed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) that probed the Saradha chit fund scam case before it was handed over to the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
In his career, Kumar solved many high-profile cases and cracked down on the CPI(Maoist) network. A team of policemen, led by him, arrested five CPI(Maoist) state committee members, including the state chief of the outlawed outfit.
Before being appointed as the DGP, he served as the Principal Secretary of the Information and Technology department. He replaced DGP Manoj Malviya. Notably, when Kumar was the Kolkata police chief, he was questioned for several days in Shillong by the CBI following a Supreme Court order over his alleged role in destroying evidence related to the chit fund scam case. When the CBI raided his residence in connection with the case, Mamata rushed to Kumar’s residence.