A court in Kolkata;s Alipore locality on Thursday reserved its order on the Central Bureau of Investigation’s petition to issue a non-bailable arrest warrant against former Kolkata Commissioner of Police Rajeev Kumar in the Saradha chit fund scam case, ANI reported.

The CBI told the court earlier in the day that Kumar did not appear before it in connection with the case despite several notices. The agency also issued him another summons, directing him to appear before it on Friday.

The CBI lawyers told the court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Subrata Mukherjee that Kumar was not cooperating with the investigation, PTI reported. Kumar’s lawyers told the court that he was a witness in the case, and not an accused. The court therefore cannot issue an arrest warrant against him, they argued. At present, Kumar is the additional director general of West Bengal Police’s Criminal Investigation Department.

Kumar’s counsels also told the court that he was not absconding and had informed the CBI he would not be available from September 1 to 25.

Kumar is accused of tampering with crucial evidence in the Saradha chit fund case. He headed a Special Investigation Team set up by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to investigate the scam before the Supreme Court handed over the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation in 2014. The agency wants to interrogate him as he reportedly gave evasive replies during questioning in Shillong in February.

On Tuesday, the Barasat district and sessions court in West Bengal had dismissed Kumar’s plea for anticipatory bail. Earlier in the day, a special court in Barasat had refused to hear his plea, and asked Kumar to move the district court.

The CBI has failed to locate Kumar since September 13, when the Calcutta High Court bench withdrew his interim protection from arrest. The court had also rejected the police officer’s plea to quash a CBI summons notice.

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