Mamata Banerjee: BJP leadership carrying out worst political vendetta

Mamata Banerjee

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday accused the "highest levels of the BJP leadership" of carrying out "the worst kind of political vendetta", and alleged that they were "misusing power to take control of the police and destroy all institutions".

"The highest levels of the BJP leadership are doing the worst kind of political vendetta. Not only are political parties their targets, they are misusing power to take control of the police and destroy all institutions. We condemn this," Banerjee said in a series of tweets.

The Trinamool Congress supremo's comments came a day after Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) sources in Delhi said the federal agency was "looking for" Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar in connection with its probe into the Ponzi scheme scam case.

The sources even claimed that Kumar, a 1989 batch IPS officer, may be arrested in the case if he does not respond to the CBI's summons.

Praising Kumar, Banerjee said the Kolkata Police Commissioner was among the best (officers) in the world.

"His integrity, bravery and honesty are unquestioned. He is working 24x7, and was on leave for only one day recently. When you spread lies, the lies will always remain lies," Banerjee tweeted.

Meanwhile, the Kolkata Police in a statement said Kumar was not only available in the city, but has also been attending office.

"Please take note that not only is Kumar available in the city, but has also been attending office on a regular basis, with the exception of January 31 when he was on leave for a day," said the statement, posted on the Kolkata Police's Facebook page.

It also threatened to initiate legal action if Kumar was defamed.

CBI sources had said that Kumar had headed a probe by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) related to both the Saradha and the Rose Valley ponzi scams prior to the probe agency taking up the case in 2014 on the Supreme Court's orders.

The SIT was set up by Banerjee in 2013 after the multi-billion rupee Saradha scam came to light.

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