ED stops TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee’s sister-in-law from leaving India

TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee’s sister-in-law, Maneka Gambhir, who was scheduled to board a 9pm flight to Bangkok on Saturday, was stopped at the Kolkata airport

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) stopped Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee’s sister-in-law, Maneka Gambhir, from visiting Bangkok on Saturday and served her summons to appear before the federal agency next week for questioning in the coal smuggling case, officials aware of the development said.

Abhishek Banerjee and his wife Rujira were earlier questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the coal smuggling case (File/Twitter)

Maneka Gambhir, whose parents live in Thailand, was stopped by immigration officials at the Kolkata airport shortly after 7pm as an alert issued by ED appeared against her passport during immigration clearance.

Gambhir, who was scheduled to board the 9pm flight to Bangkok, was asked to wait and the ED office in Delhi was informed. An ED officer from the agency’s Kolkata office reached the airport and served the summon notice to her.

However, Gambir did not talk to the media. Abhishek Banerjee also did not raise the issue while addressing a TMC rally in north Bengal on Sunday afternoon.

Gambhir and her husband and father-in-law were earlier questioned by CBI in Kolkata in connection with an alleged transfer of funds to a foreign bank. It has been alleged that this transaction is related to the coal smuggling.

Her sister and Banerjee’s wife, Rujira, has been questioned by both ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) since 2021.

After being questioned for eight hours by ED on September 2, Abhishek Banerjee unleashed a scathing attack on Union home minister Amit Shah and alleged that federal agencies are being used only against parties opposed to the Bharatiya Janata Party so that governments in non-BJP ruled states can be removed without fighting political battles.

CBI registered the coal smuggling case in November 2020 and ED joined the probe later. It is alleged that illegally mined coal, worth several thousand crores of rupees, has been sold in the black market over several years by a racket operating in the western parts of Bengal where the Eastern Coalfields Limited runs several mines. It is alleged that proceeds from the coal trade went to political leaders. Around a dozen former and serving ECL staff have been arrested.