Kolkata: Setting additional focus on three high-profile investigations in West Bengal pertaining to coal smuggling, cattle smuggling and recruitment irregularities in the state- run schools, the Central Bureau of India (CBI) might induct additional manpower for its probe teams handling these matters.
Sources said that an indication on this count was given by CBI’s additional director Ajay Bhatnagar with top officers of the individual investigation teams handling these three high- profile matters on Tuesday evening.
Bhatnagar was in Kolkata for a day to specially review the progress of the central agency’s investigations in the cases, identify the deficiencies in the process and suggest ways on how to accelerate the pace of investigation.
That CBI top brass is taking the cases pertaining to West Bengal seriously was evident this week only after seven additional officers were included in the special investigation team of CBI probing the multi-crore scam in the recruitment of teaching and non- teaching staff in West Bengal. One superintendent, three deputy superintendents, two inspectors and one sub-inspector were included in that SIT. They are currently posted in the CBI’s offices at Delhi, Bhubaneswar, Dhanbad, Bhopal and Visakhapatnam.
The Central agency sources said that as per the indications given by its additional director, the top brass will not hesitate to similarly include additional manpower for teams probing the coal smuggling and cattle smuggling scams for the sake of accelerating the pace of the investigation in these two high-profile cases.
At the same time, sources said, the additional director had also stressed on better coordination between the investigation officers and the agency’s legal teams handling these three high-profile cases for better presentation of the case related matters in the courts.
Recently, CBI had faced the wrath of the judges in a number of cases over their slow pace investigation in different cases, especially the one related to a scam on recruitment of teaching and non-teaching staff. In fact, the CBI teams investigating the scam had also been insisting on addition in manpower considering that the names of more influential persons are surfacing during the course of investigation.
–IANS