LAGATAR24 NETWORK
Ranchi, August 9: The Kolkata police on Tuesday could not record the statement of Subodh Kumar, Deputy Director rank official of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with Jharkhand High Court advocate Rajiv Kumar extortion case.
The official is said to have informed the Kolkata police that he is on a pre-sanctioned leave and he would be available once he joins the office. He has asked the Kolkata police to fix some other date to record his statement.
Subodh Kumar is currently posted as the Deputy Director of Odisha zonal office based in Bhubaneswar. He was previously posted as deputy director of Ranchi zonal office of the ED where he served from 2016 till June 2022. He was transferred to Odisha in the same capacity.
The Kolkata police sent him notice on the basis of some WhatsApp conversations between Subodh Kumar and advocate Rajiv Kumar. The advocate is accused of filing several PILs to extort money from various people. But it is not clear whether there was anything incriminating in their conversation that prompted Kolkata police to send a notice to the 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.
Rajiv Kumar represented petitioner Shiv Shankar Sharma in two PILs filed against Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren for money laundering through shell companies and availing stone mine lease in his name. The Kolkata police arrested him on August 1 for extorting money from a Kolkata based businessman Amit Agrawal. The police alleged that Rajiv Kumar extorted Rs 50 Lakh from Amit Kumar to save him from possible probe.
