Cell scam: Former top cop seeks CBI probe

PUNE: Should the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) move in to probe the CellOne fraud that has robbed the stateowned telecom giant, BSNL, of crores of rupees through illegal STD and international calls?
On Tuesday, the TOI exclusively reported the international racket, in which untraced individuals had made countless calls from various Indian cities to Gulf countries, and vice versa, using BSNL’s CellOne service.
In Pune, the scam is currently being investigated by assistant commissioner of police Sanjay Jadhav, following a complaint from BSNL.
However, considering the international scale of the fraud, should the investigations be left to the Pune police, or should the CBI take over the investigations? Retired members of the state police top brass, who spoke to TNN on Wednesday, seemed to favour a CBI probe since the scam had a nation-wide angle.
Senior serving officials in the Pune police commissionerate, however, said the local police team should be given an opportunity to crack the case as they had already done a large amount of spadework.
Retired supercop Julio Ribeiro said it was for the Pune police to decide who should investigate the case. “If the city police wants to investigate the case, they should do it. Or else, the case could be sent to the state CID,� he said.
Former director-general of police Bhaskarrao Misar said it was only logical that the case be handed over to the CBI because the area involved was far too large. “The city police are capable of investigating the case but there would be certain limitations to their investigations.
While the city police could appoint a special team to investigate the scam, the CBI is better equipped to co-ordinate with the Interpol, in view of the international nature of the crime. The local police can break the case and then hand it over to the CBI,� Misar added.
Former assistant commissioner of police Sharad Awasthi was also of the opinion that the probe be given to the central agency if the scope and scale of the racket was too large for the local police.
“The city police would largely look into the local involvement. Look at the fake stamp paper scam. There was just one person responsible for the scam.
However, in this case, there are chances of many persons being involved and this is all the more reason for a central agency to step in,� Awasthi said. Local police officials, however, take a completely different view.
“We will be registering the offence after we procure some more concrete evidence,� a crime branch official investigating the case told TNN on condition of anonymity.
When asked if there were chances of the underworld being involved in the scam, officials said it was possible. “This angle is being probed and we will be able to make a statement in a few days,� another official said.