Three days after he was questioned, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has again summoned Trinamool Congress (TMC) National Secretary Abhishek Banerjee next week to join the probe in a money laundering case linked to an alleged coal scam in West Bengal.
Abhishek, the nephew of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, has been asked to appear before the investigators at ED Headquarters in the national capital on March 29 when his statement will be recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and he is expected to be confronted with some "evidences" gathered by officials probing the case, said sources.
The 34-year-old MP from Diamond Harbour, Abhishek, was previously questioned on March 21 and in September last year in Delhi.
Abhishek and his wife, last year, had moved the Delhi High Court against the summons issued by the agency last year in September which was dismissed on March 11.
On March 11, a bench of Justice Rajnish Bhatnagar had denied the relief to Abhishek and his wife over the summons by ED over appearing at the national capital since they are the residents of Bengal.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing ED raising Prevention of PMLA said that the jurisdiction of ED is not 'confined' to any particular area or a police station.
Following the court's order, ED issued summons to Abhishek and his wife this year asking them to join the probe on March 21 and March 22 respectively.
On September 6 last year, Abhishek was questioned over eight hours here in Delhi in connection with the coal scam.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) started the probe in the coal smuggling case and the ED initiated a parallel investigation.
The CBI registered the case in November 2020. It is alleged that illegally mined coal, worth several thousand crores of rupees, had been sold in the black market over several years by a racket operating in the western parts of West Bengal where the Eastern Coalfields Limited runs several mines.
On February 21 last year, a CBI team visited Abhishek's residence and summoned his wife and his sister-in-law Menaka Gambhir over the alleged connection in the coal scam.
After quizzing Rujira, the CBI officials said that they are not satisfied with her reply.
The ED lodged a case under the provisions of the PMLA based on a November 2020 FIR registered by the CBI that alleged a multi-crore coal pilferage scam related to Eastern Coalfields Limited mines in the state's Kunustoria and Kajora areas in and around Asansol.
Local coal operator Anup Majhi alias Lala is alleged to be the prime suspect in the case.
The ED had claimed that the parliamentarian was a beneficiary of funds obtained from this illegal trade. It has arrested two people in this case till now.
( With inputs from ANI )
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