The Enforcement Directorate has again asked Abhishek Banerjee to appear before ED officials in Delhi on September 21. This is the third notice this month to Banerjee in the alleged coal smuggling case.
Earlier on September 6, Banerjee appeared before the ED officials and was questioned for nine hours. He was asked to come to office again the next day but Banerjee replied that it was impossible for him to attend because of his pre-scheduled political events. The central agency again issued a notice asking him to appear on September 21.
Banerjee’s questioning has sparked debate in political circles and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has attacked the BJP government on issues that alleged the Modi-Shah duo indulged in vendetta politics. “They have no proof. They are only harassing him (Abhishek Banerjee). When they cannot fight us politically, they are using central agencies to intimidate us,” Mamata Banerjee said. On questioning Banerjee, who is also his nephew.
The case, filed under criminal sections of PMLA, was filed by the ED after going through the November, 2020 FIR of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) alleging coal theft of crores of rupees related to the mines of Eastern Coalfields Ltd. had gone. Asansol and its surroundings in Kunustoria and Kajora areas of the state. Local state operative Anoop Manjhi alias Lala is said to be the prime suspect in the case.
The ED had earlier claimed that Abhishek Banerjee was the beneficiary of the money received from this illegal business. He has been denying all the allegations.
On September 6, after being questioned by the ED for nine hours, Abhishek Banerjee had said, “It is difficult to intimidate us by these agencies. We are not Congress that we will sit and watch. We will go to all those places where democracy is being murdered and trampled upon by the BJP.”
Apart from Abhishek Banerjee, the ED has summoned his wife Rujira Banerjee, his lawyer Sanjay Basu and two IPS officers Shyam Singh and Gyanwant Singh for questioning. Rujira Banerjee, however, told the central agency that it would not be possible for her to go to Delhi for questioning in the event of this pandemic and asked the probe agency to come to her home to interrogate her.
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