Kolkata, May 26: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Sunday issued a lookout notice against former Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar, who has been named accused with the multi-crore Saradha chit fund scam case. This notice has been issued to prevent him from leaving the country.

Earlier, the Supreme Court dismissed the petition of Kumar seeking an extension of his protection from arrest, which ended on Friday. The CBI is apex court had informed that former Kolkata Police Commissioner “destroyed and tampered” the material evidence in the form of CDRs of the prime accused and potential accused, reports the Hindustan Times. Former Kolkata Police Chief Rajeev Kumar Faces Arrest in Saradha Scam as Supreme Court Refuses to Extended Protection.

During the hearing, the bench expressed concern over the confrontation between the CBI and the West Bengal Police in the case. Also, the court noted the tiff that took place between West Bengal government and Kumar on one side and former interim CBI director M Nageswara Rao on the other.

The investigation in the Saradha chit fund scam began in 2014, where over 1.7 million depositors were duped to the extent of Rs 3,500 crore. In his confessional letter to CBI in 2013, Saradha founder Sudipta Sen admitted that he had paid large sums of money to several politicians, businessmen, journalists and others.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 26, 2019 01:02 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).