Won't Attend, As I Will Be Busy With Ongoing Mass Out: TMC's Abhishek Banerjee

Senior TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee on Thursday said he will not comply with the summons issued by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with its investigation into a scam involving primary school jobs, as he is now busy with an ongoing mass outreach campaign.

Banerjee, considered number two in the TMC, said he would be available for questioning by the ED after the conclusion of the panchayat polls on July 8.

The ED served a notice to Banerjee, summoning him to appear before its sleuths on June 13 in connection with the central agency's probe into the primary school jobs scam in West Bengal.

The notice was served hours after Banerjee's wife Rujira was grilled by the agency for nearly four hours in connection with the coal pilferage case.

"Abhishek Banerjee has been asked to appear before our officers on June 13 at our city office at 11 am. We have called him for questioning for the alleged illegal appointments in different state-run and -aided schools," an ED official told PTI.

One ED official went to Banerjee's residence, 'Santiniketan', on Harish Mukherjee Road in the southern part of Kolkata, to serve the summons, he said.

Incidentally, the TMC MP was grilled by CBI officers at their Kolkata office for over nine hours on May 20 in connection with their investigation into the primary school jobs scam.