Mamata vs CBI: Officers were heckled on instructions of “anarchist CM”, says BJP

New Delhi, Feb 05: The BJP on Tuesday lambasted the Mamata Banerjee-led government in West Bengal for allegedly preventing the CBI from carrying out probe in the chit fund scams and said that "anarchist chief minister" intervened in the process of collection of evidence by the top investigating agency's officers.

Union Minister Smriti Irani said that the CBI offiers were "heckled, manhandled and detained" on the instructions from Chief Minister Banerjee.

"There exists a state of lawlessness in West Bengal, the anarchist Chief Minister intervened in the process of collection of evidence by officers, upon whose instructions officers were heckled, manhandled and detained, their families harassed, their homes surrounded," Irani said.

"With egg on her face, to celebrate it as a moral victory is a dichotomy that is only available in the realms of Mamata Banerjee's politics," she added.

The entire row erupted on Sunday evening when the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials reached the residence of Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar in connection with the probe into chit fund scams. The Kolkata police, in an unprecedented chain of events, detained the CBI team and took them to to Shakespeare Sarani police station.

The CBI officials had reportedly reached Kolkata to question city police chief Rajeev Kumar, but were prevented from questioning the police commissioner as they were allegedly detained at a police station.

The CBI then approached the Supreme Court on Monday and sought for an urgent hearing after its officers were detained. The CBI raised suspicions that the Kolkata top cop was destroying evidence in the chit fund case.

The Supreme Court today (February 5) directed the Kolkata Police Commissioner to appear before the CBI, but also made it clear that no coercive steps, including arrest, can be taken against Rajeev Kumar.