ED questions Abhishek Banerjee in PMLA case

Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate on Monday in connection with a money laundering case linked to an alleged coal scam in West Bengal with his party alleging that the ruling BJP was misusing the agencies to target Opposition leaders.

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) National General Secretary entered the ED office at 11 am and left it at around 7:45 pm and his statement was recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). He was earlier questioned by the ED in September last year.

"I have cooperated with ED without making any excuses. These investigating agencies have been functioning under BJP's dictatorship. Since they are failing to take on the Trinamool democratically, they are using the central agencies to scare the opposition," the 34-year-old MP told reporters after the questioning.

Banerjee's wife Ruchira is expected to be questioned by the ED on Tuesday.

The questioning in Delhi came after the Delhi High Court on March 11 dismissed a petition by the couple challenging the summons asking them to appear in the national capital instead of Kolkata. Their attempt to get an urgent hearing in the Supreme Court on Monday was not allowed.

The ED had registered a case of money laundering based on an FIR filed by the CBI in November last year in the coal pilferage scam linked to the Eastern Coalfields Ltd mines in Kunustoria and Kajora in West Bengal's Asansol. It is alleged that Banerjee was a beneficiary of funds obtained from this illegal trade.

The ED has arrested two persons -- former Inspector in-charge of Bankura police station Ashok Kumar Mishra and Vikas Mishra, who is the brother of TMC youth wing leader Vinay Mishra. Vinay is said to have left the country sometime back and renounced his Indian citizenship -- in this case so far.

One Anup Majhi alias Lala is said to be the prime suspect in the case, who is alleged to be running his "illegal coal mining business smoothly by managing senior functionaries of a political party of West Bengal though Inspector Mishra".

A "deep system of political patronage" and a "well-oiled machinery" was "used to brazenly carry out certain unlawful coal mining" in West Bengal, the ED had earlier claimed.

The ED had said that Vinay and Vikas had received "proceeds of crime worth Rs 730 crore on behalf of some influential persons and for themselves" in this case involving around Rs 1,352 crore.

The statement of this unidentified "witness" furnished by the ED in the court earlier had claimed that "it is known fact that Vinay Mishra collected money from illegal coal mining of Majhi and his associates for his closely associated political boss in present ruling party; that Vinay Mishra is youth leader of TMC and he is very close to Abhishek Banerjee and that he (Vinay Mishra) is the eyes and ears of Abhishek Banerjee".

"Majhi assisted in transferring substantial funds derived from the proceeds of crime to Abhishek Banerjee's close relatives (wife and sister-in-law) at London and Thailand," the ED had claimed citing documents. A chargesheet was also filed by the ED in May.