Kolkata Police summons senior I-T officers from Mumbai

Kolkata: The Kolkata Police summoned three senior Income Tax officers in connection with a case where a share broker was allegedly beaten up during a raid.

Two Deputy Director level officers—Madhukar Anand and HM Dubey—have been called for interrogation along with Income Tax officer Brijesh Kumar Singh. All three of them are posted in Mumbai. While Singh has been asked to appear on Monday, Anand and Dubey will have to be present on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively.

Confirming the news, a police officer said that the Income Tax officers had been summoned following the directive of Calcutta High Court, which had directed to complete the investigation in the said case within three months.

Sources said the Mumbai investigation wing of Income Tax department had conducted a raid in Kolkata in connection with the alleged tax evasion case by some city-based stock brokers. The investigation was led by a Joint Director-level officer, who is at present posted at the investigation wing in Mumbai.

A team of officers from Mumbai came to Kolkata and conducted the raid along with an Assistant Director-level officer of the Kolkata office's investigation wing. It was alleged that some stock brokers were physically assaulted. The officers had allegedly forced the stock brokers to make a confession. A video, which showcased the alleged assault by the officers, had also gone viral.

One of the affected stock brokers, Tulsian, had lodged a complaint with Hare Street police station on December 2019. The case was later transferred to the Kolkata Police's Detective Department.

The police didn't rule out the possibility of summoning the Joint Director-level officer from Mumbai also, who was earlier posted in Kolkata Income Tax department's investigation wing. The same officer was shifted to Bihar and then to Nagpur after various complaints were registered against him. But in 2019, he was brought back to investigation wing in Mumbai after promotion.

Incidentally, these officers have also moved the Calcutta High Court for not taking coercive action. "They pleaded before the High Court so that the case against them gets dismissed," the police officer said.

Meanwhile, the police confirmed that it was a normal routine investigation and had nothing to do with any political developments.