Case against Amar to be handed over to Kolkata police: UP govt

The case lodged against Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh and others for alleged financial fraud amounting to Rs 500 crore would be handed over to Kolkata police for further investigation, the Uttar Pradesh government said on Saturday.

"Preliminary investigation has revealed that majority of the companies mentioned in the FIR were registered in Kolkata. Therefore, it has been decided to transfer the case to Kolkata police for further investigation," Cabinet Secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh told reporters in Lucknow. 

"The DIG Kanpur is taking necessary steps for transfering the case to Kolkata police. A formal request has also been
made with Kolkata's Commissioner of Police in this regard," Singh said. "During preliminary inquiry, the station house office
examined the records and found that majority of the companies named in the FIR were registered in Kolkata. Therefore, it was decided that it would be appropriate if the case is investigated by the Kolkata police," the cabinet secretary said.

On October 15, one Shiva Kant Tiwari lodged an FIR with Babupurwa police station in Kanpur district against Amar Singh and his wife Pankaja accusing them of amalgamating companies allegedly owned or run by them for converting black money into white, a charge he dismissed as "conjecture". The name of actor Amitabh Bachchan also figured in the 14-page complaint as director of one of the companies.

The complaint alleged that between 2003 and 2008, Singh and his wife had amalgamated their companies with otherholdings and had amassed nearly Rs 500 crore in the process. The UP Cabinet Secretary said a separate inquiry was being conducted why these facts were not taken into cognisance by Kanpur police at the time of filing of the FIR.

"An inquiry is being held and an explanation is being called why this fact was not taken into congisance," he said. Referring to Samajwadi Party's allegation that a conspiracy was being hatched against Amar Singh, he said levelling "baseless accusations against the state government was unfair and unfortunate".

"The state government has nothing to do with the FIR. Under the law based on the evidences, any person can file an
FIR and the party concerned must be having that much knowledge of the law. Levelling allegation against the government
despite having knowledge of the facts is unfair andunfortunate," he said.

He said that as of now there was no case against the SP leader in UP. "None of the company is registered in UP. Otherwise, the state police would hve investigated the matter. In the light of the recent fact, only Kolkata police can investigate the case. This is a normal defined legal process," he said. Singh said engaging the state government in
"unecessary controversy was unfair".