New Delhi, Jan. 30: The CBI is planning to question outgoing Calcutta police commissioner Surajit Kar Purkayastha as part of its investigation into the Saradha scam.

Sources in the agency today said Purkayastha's name had earlier figured in a report prepared by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO).

A multi-disciplinary organisation that deals with white-collar crimes, SFIO functions under the Union corporate affairs ministry.

"We are planning to question Purkayastha soon. In its report, the SFIO had mentioned his name along with former Bengal minister Madan Mitra as abettor," said a senior CBI official.

Mitra was arrested by the CBI for his alleged role in the scam and is now in jail.

The official said Purkayastha was among several influential persons whose role was under the agency's scanner.

"Some of them have already been questioned or arrested while the remaining will be called for questioning next month," he said.

In its report submitted more than a year ago, the SFIO said in a sub-section titled "persons liable for abetment and criminal conspiracy": "During the course of his deposition on oath, Kunal Ghosh (suspended Trinamul MP) has affirmed that very high-profile personalities drawn from politics and bureaucracy were associated with the Saradha Group publicly and shared the stage with Sudipta Sen. This inspired confidence in the minds of the public....

"During his deposition, Ghosh has submitted (a) few pictures in which Kar Purkayastha, IPS, now commissioner of police, Calcutta, and Madan Mitra, sports minister, the government of West Bengal, are seen attending programmes organised by the Saradha Group companies."

CBI sources said Purkayastha's questioning did not mean his complicity in the crime.

"We have prepared a questionnaire for him and need to know why he participated in the publicity programmes organised by the Saradha Group of companies. We want to be doubly sure if he acted on his own or under somebody's pressure. Besides, whether there was any monetary transaction," another official said.

The SFIO report had categorically mentioned that the evidence was not sufficient to frame any charges against Purkayastha.

"However, since the CBI is looking into the larger conspiracy angle of the Saradha scam, it is recommended that the matter may be referred to the CBI for necessary investigation and further action at its end," the report said.

Rajeev Kumar, former Bidhannagar police chief who had led the Saradha probe before the CBI stepped in, has been appointed the new police commissioner of Calcutta.

Purkayastha has been appointed director-general, crime.