Four top officers, including three former and one present general managers of the Eastern Coal Fields, were on Thursday arrested by the CBI in connection with the coal smuggling case.
Apart from the four top officers three lesser officials were also arrested in the case, sources said adding a designated Asansol court sent them to seven days’ CBI custody. According to sources the investigating agency has found these officials to be in constant touch with Anup Maji alias Lala one of the kingpins of the coal scam. A number of TMC leaders including party national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee were under CBI-ED scanner in the coal and cattle smuggling case.
In fact the Enforcement Directorate on Thursday summoned Bengal Minister Moloy Ghatak and a party MLA Sushanto from Purulia. They have been asked by the ED to appear at its Delhi office on Friday. The cases pertain to coal smuggling between 2018 and 2020.
Reacting to the summons and arrests made on Thursday Banerjee said it was a BJP’s ploy to break the morale of his party and vowed not to bow before the saffron outfit.
“As they have failed to defeat us politically in Bengal … they are using these dirty measures to frighten us … but the TMC will emerge stronger from each such encounters” he said wondering “how the State police or politicians can be involved in smuggling where CISF guards the ECL which is a central venture.”