Retrieved data confirms 'Madam Rose Valley' transferred much more than `14 crore

Deleted data retrieved from the "Madam Rose Valley" folder found on a computer seized from the chartered accountant's firm in Mangoe Lane led Kolkata Police to the discovery that their initial estimate ( Rs 14.69 crore) of money transferred out by the Rose Valley group were incorrect. It has come to light that in addition to the Rs 14.69 crore, large sums of money were transferred out by the chit fund company using the hawala route.

According to sources in the Kolkata Police Detective Department, several files were deleted from the folders named "Rose Valley" and "Madam Rose Valley". Those which were left behind in the folders, when the computers were seized, seemed to suggest that there was a transaction of Rs 14.69 crore through hawala channel. But after retrieving the deleted files, the investigating officers have found out that there was other transactions post demonetisation.

"They used Tally software for data management. Technical experts have been engaged to retrieve maximum data. Some of the files have already been retrieved and they are still on the job. We will arrive at a final figure once all data is retrieved," said a detective department officer.

This comes at a time when the name of the suspended Enforcement Directorate (ED) officer Manoj Kumar, was sent back to Customs after he was found visiting a hotel in Delhi with the estranged wife of Rose Valley Group chief Gautam Kundu. An enquiry by top ED officers revealed that Kumar had not intimated his seniors on taking Subhra Kundu to Delhi for any sort of investigation, though Kumar claimed that he had followed protocol.

Without keeping Subhra out of their list of suspected persons in the alleged case of money transfer through hawala channel, the investigating officers are trying to ascertain whether Kumar also had a connection with any other influential person of the Rose Valley Group.

There is a suspicion that Kumar may have had a role in helping the group channelise money through the Mangoe Lane firm. Questions are being raised on how Kumar, the nodal officer of the Rose Valley scam probe, had failed to ascertain the role of the Group's HR head, Seema Singh, in the scam when she was interrogated by ED officers in December 2015.

The police are trying to ascertain the identity of the person who carried the cash to the Mangoe Lane office and at whose behest.

The city police have already sent the seized computers to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) for forensic tests.

The Kolkata Police detective department later took a copy of both the folders from CFSL to carry on with their investigation. According to a forensic expert, any investigating agency first deposits the seized computers to CFSL and then it takes a copy from the laboratory. Or else, the seized items would be "legally" considered as tampered.