The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday issued a notice to Abhishek Banerjee, Trinamool Congress national general secretary and nephew of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to appear before its officials in Kolkata on Friday. The notice has been sent in relation to the coal scam

The notice comes a day after Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her nephew and Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee attacked the BJP Government for using the Central agencies against the political opposition,

A second notice too has been sent to his sister-in-law Maneka Gambhir asking her to appear before the officials in Delhi. The Calcutta High Court provided some respite to Gambhir directing the ED to question her in Kolkata apart from restraining the agency from taking strong action against, her.

“We have summoned Abhishek Banerjee to appear before out sleuths here. Our officials from New Delhi will come to interrogate him,” ED sources said adding the Department has already sought protection from central forces.

Both ED and Central Bureau of Investigation are investigating the coal smuggling case in which a number of top Eastern Coalfield officials and some police officers have been arrested along with prime accused Anup Majhi and Vikas Mishra.

Incidentally Mishra’s elder brother Vinay Mishra a former TMC Yuva (party youth wing) general secretary --- during when Banerjee was the State TMC Yuva president --- who was also named in the scam have currently fled the country and is reportedly hiding in island nation of Bhaniatu. He is known to have surrendered the Indian citizenship and acquired the one of the island nation.

Both Banerjee and his wife Rujira Narula Banerjee had earlier been questioned by the ED and CBI reportedly regarding a bank transaction in Thailand.

The ED notice comes not only against the backdrop of the recent arrests of top two TMC leaders Partha Chatterjee --- in school level recruitment scam --- and Anubrata Mondal --- in cow smuggling case but also a day after junior Banerjee launched a scathing attack on Union Home Minister Amit Shah alleging his son Jay Shah had refused to accept and wave Indian National Flag after India defeated Pakistan in Dubai on Sunday.

Banerjee also alleged that as Shah as the Home Minister was the master of the BSF and CISF, all the proceeds that came from coal and cattle smuggling went to him.

On Tuesday Banerjee tweeted, “HM Shah has a dual task at hand: To teach his son about Nationalism at home and sort the police under his ministry…The abysmal crime rates of Delhi have us all in shock.” He also wrote “take lessons from the Bengal model of governance instead of playing puppeteer with” ED.

The TMC leadership also said that the ED notice was a part of the BJP’s plan to divert attention from Monday’s massive turnout in the Trinamool Congress Chatra Parishad rally from where both the Chief Minister and her nephew launched a scathing attack on the BJP.

In fact the Chief Minister also said that she expected an action by the central agencies “soon after the success of this rally,” adding “tomorrow they may send a notice to Abhishek or even his two-year-old daughter.”