Kolkata: Quite some time has passed since the sleuths of the detective department (DD) of Kolkata Police took over the probe on the Kasba fake vaccination scam in Kolkata. Besides the prime accused in the scam, many more associated with it are already under the custody of the city police detectives. However, questions are now being raised on the pattern that the detectives are probing the case. The sleuths are yet to access and throw some light on the CCTV footage from the Kolkata Municipal Corporation building that could have revealed who others of the civic body frequently met Deb, the fake IAS officer.
Some even question that the probe by police is getting restricted within one particular sphere and there is no visible attempt to expand the ambit of the investigation.
However, there are scopes for expansions of this ambit of investigation. An initial probe has revealed that Deb used to move around freely in the corridors of the KMC building. Scanned documents of three original internal documents of three departments of KMC have been found on his laptop. In his mobile phone's contact and call lists, there are names and numbers of several KMC officials. Many pictures and videos of Deb with influential people within the corridors of power have also surfaced.
In such a situation questions are being raised as to why not a single official or employee of KMC has been questioned so far by the investigating sleuths. Why are the cops not being able to access and throw some light on the CCTV footage in the KMC building which could have revealed the identities of KMC insiders with whom Deb used to meet frequently?
Also read: One more arrested in vaccination scam in Kolkata
Then comes the question of whether the probe process is being limited within a specific sphere because of some invisible pressure to shield some more people who had been associated with Deb. There is also the question of how Deb, as the joint commissioner of KMC, could conduct raids in factories manufacturing bogus products.
When contacted, renowned lawyer, CPI(M) leader and the former mayor of Kolkata, Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya alleged that police are arresting only those partially involved with Deb in the bigger scam. "Why has not a single officer or employee of KMC been summoned so far for the purpose of questioning? Actually, the state government and the top brass of KMC are under tremendous pressure because of this fake vaccination scam. So I am sure that somewhere these influential people are influencing the pattern and progress of this probe. We will tap the legal doors shortly in this matter. If necessary we will also file litigation demanding a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation," Bhattacharya told ETV Bharat.
The Trinamool Congress leadership is tight-lipped over the question of why KMC insiders are yet to be questioned by the probe officials. When contacted by ETV Bharat, Trinamool's state general secretary and spokesman, Kunal Ghosh refused to utter a single word in this matter. "I will not say anything on this matter now," he said.
In the meantime, Bhattacharya also said that even the police cannot shrug away their responsibilities. "The fake vaccination camp was being run at a distance even less than a kilometre from the Kasba Police station. But the cops were blissfully unaware. Is this possible?" he questioned.
BJP's state general secretary, Syantan Basu too claimed that they will approach the court in demand of CBI equity. "Every day we are hearing about arrests of some pawns in the game. But the main brains are moving around freely. Debanjan Deb used to act as an operator of Trinamool Congress's IT cell. He enjoyed a close association with the top brass of KMC and as well as top police officers. So only the pawns are being arrested," Basu claimed.
Also read: TMC reveals pictures of Debanjan's bodyguard with the Governor Dhankar
Those arrested include Debanjan's elder brother, his personal bodyguard and some of his extremely close associates. The investigating officials claimed all those who have been arrested gained financially through their association with the prime accused. Now the question automatically arises if the arrested ones were the only individuals who helped Debanjan, then why the latter had to frequent KMC and how he could access important internal documents of the corporation. Why is his name engraved along with top Trinamool leaders at the foundation stone of a statue of Gurdev Rabindranath Tagore at Taltala? These questions are unanswered till now.
