Coal smuggling scam: Two key Bengal IPS officers again summoned to Delhi by ED

Kolkata, Sep 20 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is probing the multi- crore coal smuggling scam in West Bengal, has summoned two key Indian Police Service (IPS) from the state to the agency's headquarter at New Delhi this month for questioning.

These two IPS officers are the Additional Director General, Special Task Force, Gyanwant Singh and Deputy Commissioner, South, of Kolkata Police, Akash Magharia. While Singh has been asked to be present at ED's New Delhi office on September 26, for Magharia the date has been fixed on September 28.

This is the second time that Singh has been asked to be present at ED's New Delhi office. He was summoned last month as well along with seven other IPS officers from the state. However, Singh then ducked the summons.

ED sources said that during the peak period of the coal smuggling in West Bengal, all these IPS officers were holding important positions and the central agency wanted to question them on how this coal smuggling was carried out without their knowledge.

Of late, ED sleuths have become extremely active in its probe on the coal smuggling scam. It has questioned Trinamool Congress national General Secretary, Abhishek Banerjee thrice on this count, out of which twice were in New Delhi and once in Kolkata. The central agency sleuths have also questioned his wife Sujata Narula Banerjee and sister-in-law Maneka Gambhir in the matter.

State Law Minister, Malay Ghatak has also been summoned by ED a number of times in this connection. But each time, he ducked the summon.