Abhishek Banerjee appears before ED for questioning in school job scam
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Kolkata: Trinamool Congress general secretary and Lok Sabha MP Abhishek Banerjee on Monday appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for interrogation in the multi-crore cash-for-school-job case in West Bengal.
The central agency had directed him to appear by noon on Monday. However, Banerjee, also the nephew of former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, reached the ED’s Salt Lake office shortly before 11 a.m., well ahead of the scheduled time.
He did not respond to questions from waiting mediapersons while entering the ED office.
There was no additional security deployment at the CGO Complex on Monday, and no special arrangement of police or Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) was in place. The situation marked a contrast to earlier appearances, when heavy security arrangements were made both inside and outside the ED office, traffic movement was restricted, and media access within the complex was controlled.
On previous occasions during the earlier Trinamool Congress-led government in West Bengal, Abhishek Banerjee had also appeared before the ED in connection with various cases under similar security arrangements.
Incidentally, his name figures in the charge sheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is conducting a parallel probe into the school job case, though he has not been named as an accused. His name also appears in the Enforcement Directorate’s charge sheet.
The ED probe has also referred to Leaps & Bounds Private Limited, where Abhishek Banerjee previously served as Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
The CBI investigation in the case was initially ordered by then Calcutta High Court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay, who is now a Bharatiya Janata Party Lok Sabha MP from Tamluk in East Midnapore district. The ED later initiated its own probe by registering Enforcement Case Information Reports (ECIRs).
With IANS inputs