Kolkata: Enforcement Directorate (ED) sleuths, probing the multi-crore coal smuggling case in West Bengal, on Monday issued a summon to Rujira Narula Banerjee, wife of Trinamool Congress’ national general secretary and party’s Lok Sabha MP Abhishek Banerjee.
She has been asked to be present at ED Central Government Office (CGO) Complex office at Salt Lake on the northern outskirts of Kolkata on June 8 at 11 a.m.
On Monday morning, the immigration department at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata stopped Rujira and her two children from boarding a Dubai-bound flight, citing a lookout notice by ED. Sources said that she was issued the notice soon after that. She had been questioned earlier by ED in this connection.
The ED also summoned West Bengal Law Minister Moloy Ghatak on Monday, asking him to be present at the central agency’s headquarters in New Delhi on June 19, in connection with the coal smuggling case.
ED sources said that previously Ghatak dodged their summons twice on grounds that he had been summoned on a short notice. So this time, ED sleuths have summoned him giving almost two weeks of time.
Last week, ED director Sanjay Kumar Mishra was in Kolkata and had meetings with the top officials of the central agency as well as the legal brains representing the agency in the court.
Mishra also gave some directions to the sleuths regarding the next course of investigation in the different cases of corruption that the agency is handling like teachers’ recruitment case, cattle case and coal case.
Observers feel the spurt in activities of the sleuths immediately after Mishra’s visit to Kolkata is quite intriguing and more exciting developments are expected in the coming days.
Till the time the report was filed, there was no information whether Banerjee or Ghatak will appear for questioning or not. Political slugfest has already surfaced over the summons.
While Trinamool Congress leadership has claimed that these developments are reflections of political vendetta by the ruling party in the country, state BJP leaders described the developments as part of investigation by the central agencies.
(IANS)
