Rs 5 to 6-billion scam in Chhattisgarh’s DMF funds exposed
During an ED probe, it came to light that contractors paid exorbitant commissions ranging from 25 to 40 per cent of the contract value to officials and political figures in the state.
Enforcement Directorate (ED) probing the alleged money laundering in the Rs 1,300-crore illegal coal mining scam today interrogated Rujira Banerjee, wife of Trianmul Congress national general secretary and MP Abhishek Banerjee.
The ED officials quizzed her on a bank account allegedly bearing her name at a foreign bank, at its CGO complex office at Salt Lake today.
The ED’s move today came on the heels of the CBI interrogation in connection with the coal scam at her Harish Mukherjee Road residence a few days back.
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Rujira arrived at the venue around 11.10 am with her son to face ED interrogation. She requested the investigating officials to allow her son to be present during the questioning session. The ED officials allowed that on humanitarian ground. The investigating officials, source said, gave her timely breaks in between in view of the fact that her son was with her.
A source in the central agency said that a special team of ED from Delhi with two women officers, reportedly armed with documents and WhatsApp screen shots of chats of other suspects, put Rujira through a five-and-a-half hour long intense grilling.
Sources said that Rujira was questioned mainly on two bank accounts, purportedly held by her, one in London and another in Bangkok. She was specially questioned about the Bangkok-based bank account, where money was transferred by a Howrah-based chartered accountant, Neeraj Singh, who is currently absconding. The money transferred, according to ED sources, was from an India-based bank account after converting Indian rupee into Thai Baht.
Rujira had skipped the summons twice to face the quiz in New Delhi. She had sent mails to the central agency expressing her inability to join the probe in the Capital since she had child back home to look after and demanded the quiz be conducted at its Kolkata office.
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