Kolkata: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday served a notice for interrogation to Trinamool Congress general secretary and Lok Sabha member Abhishek Banerjee in connection with the central agency’s ongoing investigation into the multi-crore cash-for-school job case in West Bengal.
He has been asked to be present at the ED’s office at the Central Government Office (CGO) Complex at Salt Lake in the northern outskirts of Kolkata on June 15.
Sources aware of the development said that on Wednesday, two ED officials arrived at Banerjee’s residence, “Santiniketan” at Harish Mukherjee Road in South Kolkata, to personally hand over the summons to him.
When the security personnel at Santiniketan informed the ED officials that Banerjee had not been staying at that residence for quite some time, the central agency officials went to his other residence at nearby Kalighat Road, which is close to the residence of his aunt and former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
However, Abhishek Banerjee was not at his Kalighat residence either, and hence the ED officials could not personally hand over the notice for interrogation.
Incidentally, Abhishek’s name was in the charge sheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is conducting a parallel probe in the school-job case. However, he was not named as an accused there. His name also appeared in the charge sheet filed by the ED in its investigation of the case.
According to ED sources, Abhishek has been summoned again to the ED office to reach a logical conclusion in the investigation about his involvement. His statement will be recorded on that day.
Abhishek had also been summoned by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of West Bengal for interrogation on June 8 in connection with mismatches in the signatures of Trinamool Congress legislators in a resolution pertaining to important slots in the West Bengal Assembly reserved for the opposition bench.
On June 8, he is scheduled to accompany Mamata Banerjee to New Delhi to attend a crucial meeting of the opposition Indian National Development Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc.
On Wednesday, Banerjee also approached a single-judge vacation bench of the Calcutta High Court seeking protection from coercive police action, including arrest, in the case of mismatched signatures of the legislators.
The matter will be heard on Friday.
(IANS)
