The Enforcement Directorate(ED) questioned West Bengal chief minister’s nephew, Abhishek Banerjee for 8 hours on Monday in regarding the illegal coal mining scam.
The Trinamool Congress MP and general secretary, Abhishek Banerjee entered the new office of the ED in central Delhi at 11 AM and left few minutes before 8:00 PM on Monday. He was summoned for questioning in the money laundering case related to the illegal coal mining scam in West Bengal.His wife Rujira has also been asked to appear before the ED on Tuesday for questioning.
The MP’s questioning
Banerjee and his wife pleaded to the Delhi High Court challenging the notice issued by the central probing agency summoning them to Delhi instead of Kolkata. The Delhi High Court dismissed the couples plea on March 11. ED issued a new summon after March 11.
Abhishek Banerjee and his wife have now filed a petition to the Supreme Court. He has been earlier questioned by the ED in September last year. The officials said his statement has been recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act(PMLA) and was questioned with evidences investigators have gathered.
According to sources, he was mainly questioned about the two companies allegedly linked with his family members and about two foreign bank accounts linked to his wife. The officials said his connection to the other accused in this case is also being investigated.
The diamond harbour MP told the reporters at the Kolkata airport on Sunday that the BJP led central government is using the ED and the CBI(Central Bureau of Investigation) for political purposes being unable to accept the party’s poor result in the Assembly Elections of 2021.
Banerjee reportedly did not cooperate when he was summoned by the investigating agency in September last year. He reportedly failed to explain the sources of the unaccounted for money received by the companies allegedly linked to his family. This money is claimed to be the proceedings of the coal smuggling of West Bengal. His wife was also summoned by the ED but did not appear for questioning.
The illegal coal mining case and suspects
The CBI lodged a FIR on November 2020 alleging a multi-crore coal pilferage scam related to Eastern Coalfields Limited mines in West Bengal’s Kunustoria and Kajora areas in and around Asansol.
ED lodged the case based on CBI’s complaint.Anup Majhi alias Lala, the local coal operator is the prime suspect. He was allegedly running his own illegal coal business smoothly for a substantial amount of time backed up by influential member’s of the ruling party.The ED has arrested two people till now in this case.
The first accused is Vikas Mishra, brother of Vinay Mishra who is a youth wing TMC leader; and Ashok Kumar Mishra, the former inspector-in-charge of Bankura police station. The ED had claimed that the Mishra brothers received “proceeds of crime worth ₹ 730 crore on behalf of some influential persons and for themselves.”
The agency said the documents it seized shows “Majhi assisted in transferring substantial funds derived from the proceeds of crime to Shri Abhishek Banerjee’s close relatives (wife and sister-in-law) at London and Thailand.”
Abhishek Banerjee had denied all claims about his association with prime suspect Anup Majhi, Mishra brothers and Ashok Kumar Mishra. He also denied any knowledge about the alleged illegal coal mining.
Edited by- Subbuthai Padma
Published by-Iram Rizvi
