Kolkata police ‘raids’ office of firms allegedly linked to ex-CBI interim director Nageshwar Rao

Kolkata Police Friday conducted ‘raids’ at two different locations of a non-banking finance company named Angela Mercantile Pvt Ltd allegedly linked to former CBI interim director M Nageshwar Rao’s wife. Sources told The Indian Express the ‘raids’ were conducted at the registered office of AMPL on Dr. Rajendra Prasad Sarani and at Salt Lake’s CA block sector 1.

“Kolkata Police has conducted raid on Angela Mercantile Pvt Ltd, a company owned by One Mr Praveen Aggarwal, who has not registered his firm as per law”, Joint Commissioner of Police (crime) Praveen Tripathy told The Indian Express.

The step comes just a day before Kolkata Police commissioner Rajeev Kumar is to be questioned by a CBI team in Shillong as a witness in the Saradha ponzi scam. “I don’t have the details. But I won’t be surprised if turns out to be a dose of vendetta politics,” said BJP Bengal president Dilip Ghosh. “This belongs to the domain of the police…” said state food minister Jyoti Priya Mallick.

Saying that the firm was not related to his family members, Rao stated he had already clarified regarding this issue through a signed press statement on October 30, 2018.

“I want to state that I had already clarified regarding this issue through a signed press statement on October 30, 2018. Further, complete details of all property of my family and mine have already been submitted in my annual property return submitted to the government which are available on the Ministry of Home Affairs’ website… I request the media to look into the facts mentioned in the Press Statement of October 30,2018  which are also available in the public domain. I deny the linkage of this firm with my family members”, he added.

AMPL is a non-banking finance company (NBFC) with its registered office on 5 Clive Row (Dr Rajendra Prasad Sarani). Till October 2018, the registered office was in CA block of Salt Lake City, Sector-I. It was incorporated in February 1994, as per the Registrar of Company records.