ED convicted both Amit Agarwal and Rajiv Kumar, made Sonu Agarwal as government witness

Ranchi: The case of arresting advocate Rajiv Kumar with Rs 50 lakh in Kolkata is the result of a well-planned conspiracy. Businessman Sonu Agarwal, who conducted talks between Kolkata-based businessman Amit Agarwal and High Court lawyer Rajeev Kumar, has recorded his statement as a government witness in the entire episode. The ED has requested the court to take action by holding Rajiv Kumar and Amit Agarwal prima facie guilty under sections 3 and 4 of PMLA.

In the charge sheet filed by the ED, it has been said that Amit Agarwal had made a misrepresentation in the FIR lodged with the Kolkata Police. He has said in the police complaint that advocate Rajiv Kumar had approached him to manage the PIL by taking money. Rajiv Kumar is demanding a bribe of one crore rupees in the first installment in the name of government officials, court officials and judges.

On this complaint, Amit Agarwal arrested Rajiv Kumar from Kolkata Police with Rs 50 lakh at Quest Mall (Beck Bagan Road, Kolkata). It has been found in the investigation that Amit had contacted Rajiv Kumar through Sonu, while in the FIR he wrote about Rajiv Kumar contacting him (Amit).

In the charge sheet filed by the ED, mentioning Sonu Agarwal, it has been said that he has recorded his statement as a government witness. He has said that Amit Agarwal was upset due to the ongoing PIL in the High Court seeking a CBI inquiry into the money laundering case by shell companies. After this, he requested to try to get a conversation with Shivshankar Sharma's lawyer Rajiv Kumar on this issue.

After this Sonu Aggarwal initiated the conversation between the two. Rajiv Kumar went to Kolkata twice to discuss the issue of PIL management. After the first round of talks, Rajiv was called to Kolkata for the second time. Both the times, Sonu had arranged the ticket and hotel for Rajiv Kumar. After reaching Kolkata for the second time on July 31, when Rajiv Kumar was caught, he (Sonu) was present with Rajiv Kumar's son at Quest Mall. In the investigation, it has been found that till now no government official or court official has contacted Amit Agarwal.

Rajiv Kumar has also denied that any government official had contacted him. But Amit Kumar has alleged that Rajiv Kumar had agreed to take a bribe of Rs 10 crore and give them to the government officials and first slow down the matter and then end it. At the same time, it was also said that if the bribe amount is not received, then he (Rajeev) will do his work. During the investigation, Amit Agarwal could not name any officer whose name Rajiv Kumar may have named to the point of slowing down the matter. Investigation found that Shivshankar Sharma had filed PIL (4290/2021). In this, a CBI inquiry was demanded, accusing the politicians of investing black money in shell companies.

At the end of the remand period of Amit Agarwal, the ED produced him in the court of special PMLA judge Prabhat Kumar Sharma. Here on the request of ED's advocate Ramit Satyendra, an order was given to send the accused to judicial custody. After this, he was sent to jail. Amit Agarwal was arrested late on the night of 7 October, after which the ED took him on remand for seven days.

The son of High Court advocate Rajiv Kumar, arrested in the cash scandal, has accused the Kolkata Police of forgery. He has said that the Kolkata Police has copied his signature on the document (arrest memo) related to his father's arrest. The documents produced by the Kolkata Police related to the arrest of Rajiv Kumar in the court have forged signatures on them.