KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee’s wife Rujira did not appear before Enforcement Directorate’s office in New Delhi on Wednesday, citing her inability to move along with her daughters in the prevailing pandemic situation.
Rujira, who was earlier questioned by the central investigating agency in connection to the illegal coal mining scam, assured her cooperation with ED.
In a letter to ED assistant director Sumat Prakash Jain, Rujira said she was mother of two infants and “travelling to New Delhi physically in the midst of the pandemic put my and the lives of my children at grave risk”. In the letter dated August 31, she said she was ready to face questioning by ED at her home.
Rujira urged ED officials to come to her Kolkata home and question her because the agency had an office in the city. “Besides, as per my understanding, the alleged cause of action of the subject matter of your inquiry too arises out of West Bengal,” she added. Rujira asked ED to communicate their decision while iterating her willingness to cooperate with the agency.
This February, days before the Bengal assembly polls, CBI officials came to Rujira’s Harish Mukherjee Road home for questioning. A six-member team, including two women officers, questioned her; sources close to the family pointed to extra-legal motives of the officers. The ED had filed a case based on the November 2020 FIR of CBI under relevant sections of PMLA in the illegal coal mining scam.
The agency also sent summons to Abhishek asking him to appear on September 6, followed by two senior IPS officers on September 8 and 9. Sources close to Abhishek on Wednesday indicated there was no confirmation whether the Trinamool leader would appear before the agency’s office in Delhi next week.
