Bengal police notice to ED deputy director in Jharkhand High Court advocate Rajiv Kumar case

The Kolkata police have sent a notice to the current deputy director of Odisha zonal office of the Enforcement Directorate Subodh Kumar in connection with Jharkhand High Court advocate Rajiv Kumar extortion case. Meanwhile, the ED is said to be examining whether the Kolkata police have sufficient material to question its deputy director.

Subodh Kumar was earlier posted as deputy director of Ranchi zonal office and transferred to Odisha in the month of June. The Kolkata police sent him notice on the basis of some WhatsApp conversations with the advocate who is accused of filing PILs to extort money from various people.

Rajiv Kumar is advocate of Shiv Shankar Sharma who filed two PILs against Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren for money laundering through shell companies and availing stone mine lease in his name. He was arrested by the Kolkata police for extorting money from a Kolkata -based businessman Amit Agrawal. It was alleged that Rajiv Kumar extorted Rs 50 Lakh from Amit Agrawal to save him from a possible probe.

But it is not clear whether there was anything incriminating in their WhatsApp conversation prompting the Bengal police to summon the ED deputy director. In the notice Kolkata police said that Subodh Kumar is acquainted with the facts of the case and his statement needs to be recorded. It is also not clear whether the police sent him the notice as a witness or a suspect.

As per the information Kolkata police is set to visit the Deputy director tomorrow at Bhubaneswar in Odisha. Legal experts said that the ED can seek details from the Kolkata police and the context in which it wants to question its deputy director. This is not the first case of showdown between the Bengal police and ED. Earlier, the ED alleged and lodged an FIR against Kolkata police for fabricating facts against ED Joint Director Kapil Raj.