Bengal Police file FIR against key CBI official

Kolkata, June 21 (IANS) West Bengal Police on Tuesday filed an FIR against several Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officers including the one who is heading the central probe agency's ongoing probe in the coal smuggling case in the state. The name of the officer is Umesh Kumar.

The FIR has been filed at the Bishnupur Police Station under Diamond Harbour sub-division in South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal. A special team of Diamond Harbour district police has started probe in the matter.

Recently, a resident of Diamond Harbour filed a complaint at the local police station alleging that he along with some other people were threatened by the CBI sleuths in the name of interrogration pertaining to the coal scam investigation. The complainant also alleged that CBI sleuths had been putting pressure on them to give statements according to their instructions and also record those statements. He named Umesh Kumar in the complaint.

It is learnt that Umesh Kumar was a part of the CBI team who went to the residence of Trinamool Congress' national general secretary and the party MP, Abhishek Banerjee's residence in South Kolkata on June 14 this year to interrogate his wife Rujira Narula Banerjee in connection with the coal scam. Incidentally, Abhishek Banerjee, the nephew of Mamata Banerjee, is the party MP from Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha constituency.

State police sources said that they have started the preliminary investigation in the matter and if necessary, they will interact with the CBI officers named in the case including Umesh Kumar.

Besides CBI, Enforcement Directorate (ED) is also conducting a parallel probe in the coal smuggling case in West Bengal. Abhishek Banerjee himself has faced questioning from both these agencies in this connection. The name of his wife surfaced after the investigating sleuths traced a bank account purportedly held by her in the Thailand - capital of Bangkok where a huge amount of money reportedly involving the coal smuggling scam was transferred. Rujira Narula Banerjee, however, has denied knowledge of the said bank account.