Bengal CID summons BJP leader Jitendra Tiwari in coal scam case

West Bengal BJP leader Jitendra Tiwari has been summoned to appear before the state CID in connection with its investigation into a coal smuggling case, officials said on Thursday. The CID has asked him to appear before its officers in the city for questioning in the coal smuggling case on Friday.

Kolkata: Bharatiya Janata Party leader from West Bengal Jitendra Tiwari has been summoned by the state's Central Investigation Department (CID) on Friday in connection with the coal smuggling case. The case, under criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), was filed by the ED. This followed an FIR registered by the CBI in November 2020 relating to the alleged multi-crore coal pilferage scam related to the Eastern Coalfields Ltd mines in the state's Kunustoria and Kajora areas in and around Asansol.

Local state operative Anup Majhi alias Lala is alleged to be the prime suspect in the case. West Bengal Law Minister Moloy Ghatak skipped appearing before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) here on Wednesday for questioning in in coal pilferage case.

The ED summoned Ghatak to appear before investigators at its headquarters here on September 14 in the coal smuggling and money laundering case. Earlier this month, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) interrogated Ghatak and conducted searches at his premises in West Bengal in connection with its probe into the alleged coal pilferage case.

Notably, Maneka Gambhir, the sister-in-law of Trinamool Congress (TMC) National General Secretary and MP Abhishek Banerjee, was also summoned by the ED in connection with the coal smuggling case.