CBI registers case against Kolkata bizman, Bengal cops

The central bureau of investigation, CBI, has registered a case against a trader from Kolkata, Amit Agrawal, and unknown officials of the Kolkata Police Department in connection with the seizure of Rs 50 lakh from the Jharkhand High Court Advocate Rajeev Kumar on July 31 last year. The case has been registered under Sections 120B and 182 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 8 of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The CBI has also conducted raids at multiple locations and premises in Jharkhand and Kolkata in this regard. In a press statement, the agency said the step was taken following the Jharkhand HC directives on November 30, 2022, asking the CBI to conduct a preliminary enquiry into the conduct of Amit Agrawal in scandalising the judiciary. The enforcement directorate officials and other government officials, notably a Pil was filed by one Shiv Shankar Sharma through Rajeev Kumar alleging that Amit Agrawal and others were involved in the laundering of illgotten wealth of Chief Minister Hemant Soren and others through shell companies. Amit Agrawal then called Rajeev Kumar to Kolkata and handed him Rs 50 lakh and got him trapped by the Kolkata Police on the same day. The CBI