Kolkata: Taking its coal smuggling probe straight into West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s household forward of the Assembly elections, the Central Bureau of Investigation on Sunday served summons to her MP nephew Abhishek Banerjee’s spouse Rujira Banerjee Narula, in addition to her sister Menaka Gambhir, within the high-profile case, asking them to be able to face questioning at their residences inside an hour for his or her suspected position in abroad monetary transactions regarding the unlawful commerce.

In the afternoon, a CBI anti-corruption crew, mounting warmth on the TMC supremo’s household, knocked on the doorways of “Santiniketan”, the palatial South Kolkata residence of Mr Banerjee which is guarded by a robust Kolkata police contingent, and served the summons below Section 160 of the Criminal Procedure Code to his spouse.

In the summons at her 188A Harish Mukherjee Road residence in Kalighat, CBI further superintendent of police (ACB) Umesh Kumar advised Ms Narula:

“Whereas it appears that you are acquainted with the circumstances of the case noted below. which I am investigating under Chapter-XII of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973, the undersigned along with CBI team will visit above address on 21.02.2021 at 1500 hrs. You are hereby requested to remain present on 21.02.2021 at 1500 hrs at above mentioned address for the purpose of answering certain questions relating to the case.”

An identical discover was additionally delivered to Ms Gambhir’s residence at Anandapur, off the EM Bypass within the metropolis, at round identical time. But the CBI crew was advised Ms Narula and Ms Gambhir weren’t at residence then. The CBI crew left an officer’s quantity for the 2 sisters to name again. Till night, the CBI had not received any response, sources stated.

Recently inducted BJP chief Shubhendu Adhikari claimed at a rally that Anup Majhi alias Lala, the absconding kingpin of the coal smuggling case, used to deposit round Rs 36 lakhs month-to-month to the Kasikorn Bank account of “Madam Narula” in Bangkok, Thailand. Tweeting a replica of the CBI summons at 4.15 pm, Mr Abhishek Banerjee alleged: “At 2 pm today, the CBI served a notice in the name of my wife. We have full faith in the law of the land. However, if they think they can use these ploys to intimidate us, they are mistaken. We are not the ones who would ever be cowed down.”

The CBI’s calculated transfer, a day earlier than Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s day-long go to to West Bengal on Monday, when he’s more likely to announce a slew of latest Central tasks, got here two days after a court docket summoned Union residence minister Amit Shah to seem in individual or by means of his consultant on Monday in a defamation case filed by Mr Banerjee in opposition to him for levelling wild allegations about him.

Mocking Mr Banerjee for his repeated problem that he would go to the gallows if the allegations of corruption had been proved in opposition to him, Mr Adhikari stated: “I request Tolabaj Bhaipo to not go to the gallows proper now. There are much more left to be seen.”

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