Top CBI officer in Kolkata to review probe progress in Bengal financial scams

Kolkata, Dec 22 (IANS) Manoj Shashidhar, the additional director of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), has arrived in Kolkata reportedly to review the progress in investigation of the central agency in different cases of financial scams in the state, especially the cash-for-school job, coal smuggling and cattle smuggling, among others.

Sources said that he arrived at Kolkata on Thursday night only and on Friday morning reached CBI’s Nizam Palace office in Kolkata where he held meetings with the investigation officials of the agency spearheading the probes on the respective financial scams.

Sources said Shashidhar’s sudden arrival in the city is significant since the central agencies are currently battling against time to wind up and complete the investigation in the different cases of financial scam.

The pressure on the central agency sleuths on this count has aggravated further with the Supreme Court recently ordered CBI to wind up its ongoing investigation in the cash-for-school- job case in West Bengal within a specific period.

Sources said that this is the second time that Shashidhar has visited Kolkata this year. Earlier in July he visited the city soon after being elevated as the additional director of the agency from the rank of joint director. At that point of time too, sources said, he had detailed meetings with the investigating officials of CBI relating to the investigation on various financial scams in the state.

Sources said that Shashidhar since the beginning has been emphasizing greater coordination with other investigation agencies like Enforcement Director (ED), which is also conducting parallel probes in many of these scams, as well as with the Income Tax department.