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Rose Valley Scam: ED Removes Officer Over 'Links' With Gautam Kundu's Wife

File photo of Rose Valley Group owner Goutam Kundu, who is currently lodged in jail. (PTI)

Kolkata: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday removed Manoj Kumar, a senior officer of the probe agency’s eastern region, from all investigation responsibilities of the Rose Valley scam.

The probe agency also initiated an investigation into Kumar’s possible links with Subhra Kundu, wife of Rose Valley Group owner Goutam Kundu, who is currently lodged in jail.

Kumar was the ED’s nodal investigating officer in the Rs 60,000-crore Rose Valley chit-fund scam which created a political storm after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested Trinamool Congress MPs Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Tapas Paul for their alleged involvement in the scam.

Kumar, who was deputed to ED from Customs and was investigating the case for the past 18 months, is under scanner after Kolkata Police released CCTV footage of the officer travelling with Subhra Kundu at the Kolkata airport and later checking into a hotel at the Sundernagar area in Delhi.

The revelation raised questions on Kumar’s possible links with the Kundus and whether he compromised the probe.

ED sources confirmed that the agency is treating the allegation with “utmost importance” and will take appropriate action against the officer if he is found guilty. The agency also maintained it had kept a tab on Kumar’s movement on account of his “suspicious activities”.