Moments after Mamata Banerjee leaves, CBI team reaches Abhishek's house; wife questioned for an hour

The developments come months ahead of the assembly elections in the state with Trinamool Congress calling it political vendetta.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday examined Rujira Banerjee, the wife of Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee, in connection with the coal pilferage case.

A CBI team arrives at the residence of West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee's nephew and MP Abhishek Banerjee, in Kolkata on Tuesday.(ANI Photo)

The CBI reached Abhishek Banerjee's residence in Kolkata just before noon and the examination went on for around an hour, news agency PTI reported.

The questioning began soon after chief minister Mamata Banerjee visited the house of Abhishek, who is her nephew.

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PTI reported that the CBI team sought to ascertain Rujira Banerjee's financial accounts. The team left around 1.15 pm amid a heavy police presence.

The CBI had served notice to Rujira Banerjee on Sunday and Abhishek's sister-in-law Menaka Gambhir in connection with the case. While Gambhir was examined on Monday, Banerjee had told the central agency that she will be available for examination between 11 am and 3 pm on February 23.

The developments come months ahead of the assembly elections in the state with Trinamool Congress calling it political vendetta.

The CBI had on November 28 last year carried out a massive search operation at number of locations across four states - West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh - after registering a case against a person named Anup Majhi alias Lala.

It is alleged that Lala, the alleged kingpin of the scam, is involved in illegal mining and theft of coal from leasehold mines of Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL) in Kunustoria and Kajora areas.

Premises of two general managers and some other officers of ECL, CISF and Indian Railways were also raided by the CBI.