Coal smuggling case: Abhishek Banerjee’s wife asks ED to question her in Kolkata

She cited the risk of travelling during the Covid-19 pandemic and said she would be putting her children at grave risk if she travelled to Delhi

Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee’s wife Rujira Banerjee on Wednesday did not visit the office of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Delhi where she was summoned for questioning in the coal smuggling case.

Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Abhishek Banerjee. (PTI)

Citing the risk of travelling during the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic, she wrote to the agency and said it would be convenient for her if ED officers questioned her at her Kolkata residence.

“I am a mother of two infants and travelling to New Delhi physically alone in the midst of the pandemic will put my and the lives of my children at grave risk. It would be convenient for me if you consider asking me to appear in Kolkata at my residence since your organisation has its office in Kolkata and I reside in Kolkata too. Besides, as per my understanding, the alleged cause of action of the subject matter of your inquiry too arises out of West Bengal,” her letter, which HT has seen, said.

The letter, which was leaked to the media on Wednesday afternoon, was dated August 31. The summons were dated August 18. ED officials did not comment on Rujira Banerjee’s letter.

Rujira Banerjee was questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in February in connection with the same coal smuggling case. The CBI team had visited Abhishek Banerjee’s residence. In March, the CBI also questioned Rujira’s sister Maneka Gambhir and the latter’s husband Ankush Arora and father-in-law Pawan Arora.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee reacted sharply in February when a CBI team visited the south Kolkata residence of her nephew Abhishek Banerjee and served a notice to his wife.

“A tiger cub is not scared of fighting cats and rats. Muscle flexing or threats of jail sentence cannot scare us. We have stood before guns in the past. I will not surrender as long as I am alive,” the chief minister said at a public event.

The CBI registered a case regarding the issue on November 27 last year. It alleged that illegally mined coal, worth several thousand crores of rupees, was sold in the black market over several years in the western parts of West Bengal where Eastern Coalfields Limited runs several mines.

Among the prime suspects is former TMC youth front general secretary and businessman Vinay Mishra, who renounced his Indian citizenship in December last year and became a citizen of Vanuatu, a small island country in the South Pacific Ocean.

Abhishek Banerjee was earlier president of the TMC’s youth wing. He appointed 15 general secretaries, including Mishra, on July 20 last year.

Last month, the Calcutta high court dismissed Mishra’s appeal for relief from the CBI probe and did not extend his bail.

The ED summoned Abhishek Banerjee to its Delhi office on September 6. Three Indian Police Service officers, Shyam Singh, Gyanwant Singh and S Selvamurugan, have also been summoned to Delhi on September 8, 9 and 10 respectively in connection with the case.