'Agencies Functioning Under BJP's Dictatorship': TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee After ED Questioning

Abhishek Banerjee was questioned at the ED's Delhi office for about eight hours, PTI reported. His wife Rujira has been summoned by the agency for questioning in the same case on Tuesday.

New Delhi: TMC MP and Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's nephew Abhishek Banerjee claimed that investigating agencies were functioning under BJP's dictatorship after he was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday in a coal scam case in West Bengal.

Abhishek Banerjee was questioned at the ED's Delhi office for about eight hours, PTI reported. He entered the new office of the central probe agency around 11 am and left shortly before 8 pm.

Speaking to reporters in the evening, Abhishek Banerjee said he cooperated with the ED.

"I've cooperated with ED without making any excuses. These investigating agencies have been functioning under BJP's dictatorship. Since they are failing to take on TMC democratically, they are using the central agencies to scare the opposition," ANI quoted Banerjee as saying.

ED officials said Banerjee's statement was recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and he was confronted with some "evidences" gathered by the investigators, PTI reported.

His role and links with other accused in the case is being investigated, officials said.

The Diamond Harbour MP was also questioned in this case by the ED in September last year. His wife Rujira has been summoned by the agency for questioning in the same case on Tuesday.

The ED summons against Abhishek and Rujira came after the Delhi High Court on March 11 dismissed a plea by the couple challenging the agency notices asking them to appear in the national capital instead of Kolkata.

ED lodged the case under the PMLA based on a November 2020 FIR registered by the CBI that alleged a multi-crore coal pilferage scam related to Eastern Coalfields Limited mines in the state's Kunustoria and Kajora areas.

Local coal operator Anup Majhi alias Lala is alleged to be the prime suspect in the case, PTI reported.

The ED has claimed that Abhishek Banerjee was a beneficiary of funds obtained from this illegal trade. 

Two people have been arrested in this case till now -- Vikas Mishra, the brother of TMC youth wing leader Vinay Mishra, and former inspector in-charge of Bankura police station Ashok Kumar Mishra.

The ED had earlier claimed that the Mishra brothers received "proceeds of crime worth Rs 730 crore on behalf of some influential persons and for themselves" in this case involving an estimated amount of Rs 1,352 crore.