'ED notice to Abhishek Banerjee's wife an inhuman act': Mamata Banerjee

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday criticised the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for issuing notice to Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee's wife, Rujira Narula Banerjee, in connection with the multi-crore coal smuggling case.

On Monday morning, Rujira Narula Banerjee and her children were stopped by the Immigration department officials at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport here, from boarding a Dubai-bound flight, citing a lookout notice by the ED. Soon after that, she was issued a notice by the ED, directing her to be present at the agency's Salt Lake office on June 8.

Speaking to the mediapersons on Monday, Mamata Banerjee, also the Trinamool Congress supremo, described the development as "an inhuman act" on ED's part.

"She was going abroad to meet her ailing mother. The Supreme Court has not imposed any restrictions on her foreign tours. The apex court only asked her to inform the ED once before going out of the country. And she had informed the ED well in advance about her scheduled tour. The ED officials at that point of time only could have asked her not to travel abroad. But instead of doing that, she was stopped from boarding the flight this morning and also issued the notice on the same day. This is an inhuman act," the chief minister said.

Mamata Banerjee has also questioned the timing of the notice.

"The Union government is not ashamed over deaths in the Balasore train mishap. Instead of helping the people, they are trying to divert attention from the entire incident," she said.

On Monday, the ED has also issued notice to West Bengal Law Minister Moloy Ghatak for questioning at its headquarters in Delhi in the same case.

He had been asked to be present there on June 19.

The Trinamool Congress has described the issuance of the notice as "reflections of vendetta politics by the Union government and the BJP".