The “tardy investigation” of financial frauds in West Bengal has annoyed CBI Special Director Rakesh Asthana.
After a meeting with CBI officials here on Wednesday, Mr. Asthana said the pace of the investigation in the four years since the CBI had taken over the Saradha Chit Fund case was “dismal,” a senior official of the agency said.
In 2014, the Supreme Court handed over the case to the CBI that has, however, failed to make any breakthrough.
Mr. Asthana met the officials at the CBI office for five hours, and was briefed of the status of the case. “He said the Saradha scam was first probed by the Biddhanagar Commissionerate, then by the State government and then by the CBI. Four years have passed since the CBI took over the investigation, but it is yet to complete the case, and he asked for the reasons,” the official said.
He asked why none other than top officials of the Saradha Group was in jail, and was upset that many involved in the fraud could not be interrogated. He underscored the gaps in the investigation in the Saradha and Rose Valley chit fund scam cases.
Following Mr Asthana’s detailed scrutiny of the cases, it is now expected that more of city’s important people — including political personalities — will be questioned.
