New Delhi: A team of the West Bengal Crime Investigation Department (CID), which had reached the national capital to conduct searches in its probe into the cash seized from three Jharkhand MLAs, was allegedly “restrained” Wednesday morning by the Delhi Police.
“In the course of investigation, a team of CID which had gone to Delhi to execute a search warrant issued by court has been stopped from doing their lawful duty on the directions of DCP South West,” the CID said in an official statement.
The CID has now sought the intervention of Delhi Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora.
However, a senior officer of the Delhi Police said the team had not been stopped. “We haven’t stopped anyone. The investigating officer (IO) of the case isn’t present. We are checking the warrant,” the officer told ThePrint.
Explaining the process of police carrying out searches outside their own state, another Delhi Police officer said that the station house officer (SHO) concerned has to be informed first before a search can be conducted with assistance from local police.
“If it’s a high-profile or sensitive matter, the deputy commissioner of police (DCP) has to be informed by his counterpart from the other state. In rare situations, if the IO isn’t present due to unforeseen circumstances, then the police have to give it in writing. If an arrest is made, the accused will have to be presented before the magistrate within 24 hours of the arrest. A transit remand is required if the accused has to be taken out of the state,” the police officer said.
Nine states, including West Bengal, had earlier -withdrawn general consent for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate cases in areas under their jurisdictions. The West Bengal government had alleged that the CBI was probing the post-poll violence cases without securing the pre-requisite nod from it.
On 2 August, the West Bengal CID had obtained a search warrant from a magistrate’s court to search the premises of businessman Sidharth Majumdar’s residence in Delhi’s posh Chanakyapuri area.
Sources in the CID told ThePrint that the agency had seized documents that hint at a conspiracy and that it was thus required to further conduct searches and probe Majumdar in connection with the Rs 49 lakh seized from the suspended Congress MLAs.
The CID has carried out multiple searches in Kolkata since Monday morning to gather more evidence. It has also seized CCTV footage from a central Kolkata hotel where the three MLAs — Rajesh Kachchap, Irfan Ansari and Naman Bixal — had checked in to use the washroom and bar for approximately 20 minutes on the day of their arrest.
How the case unfolded
The three suspended Jharkhand Congress MLAs had been detained for questioning by the Howrah police in West Bengal after their vehicle was allegedly found loaded with cash on 30 July.
Howrah (Rural) superintendent of police Swati Bhangalia told ThePrint the force intercepted their car in Uluberia near Kolkata after receiving specific inputs. “The cash amount was so high that we had to use currency counting machines to ascertain the amount,” she added.
Kachchap, Ansari and Bixal were arrested formally Sunday, and a court sent them to 10-day police remand. On Tuesday, a CID team raided an office in Central Kolkata where a bag of cash had allegedly been handed over to the arrested MLAs’ close aide, Kumar Pratik. At the premises, CID officers said they had recovered Rs 3 lakh in cash, and they are now probing a hawala angle as well. Police also arrested Pratik Sunday.
However, one of the arrested MLAs, Ansari, claimed they were carrying the cash to Kolkata to buy sarees from a wholesale market to distribute to Adivasi women in Jharkhand during an annual public event.
After interrogation, the Howrah police claimed the trio gave contradictory statements. During the probe, police claimed to have found that the MLAs had also travelled to Guwahati by road and were returning to Jharkhand.
With inputs from Bismee Taskin
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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Source: The Print
