Rujira Narula Banerjee, wife of Trinamul Congress’ national general secretary and Lok Sabha MP Abhishek Banerjee was stopped by the immigration department at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport (NSCBI) in Kolkata from boarding a flight to Thailand.

This action was taken following a notice sent by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the coal smuggling case. The ED has also summoned Rujira for questioning at their office in the CGO Complex at 11 am on Thursday. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee responding on Monday to a question regarding the ED’s notice to Rujira said Abhishek’s wife had informed the investigating agency, the ED, about her trip abroad.

Mamata further explained, “She (Rujira) is a girl from Punjabi and her mother is very ill.” She also referenced the Supreme Court’s order, stating that the apex court allowed Rujira to inform the ED if she ever travelled outside the country. Accordingly, Rujira had informed the ED, a long time ago.

Mamata criticized the ED’s actions by questioning their role, saying, “But going to the airport with a notice in hand, these inhumane things are going on.” It is reported that Rujira arrived at the airport on Monday morning with her two children, intending to catch a flight to Thailand.

However, she was denied boarding by the immigration after they discovered the lookout notice issued against her by the Enforcement Directorate. Trinamul Congress sources claimed that both the Calcutta High Court and the Supreme Court had previously granted her permission to travel abroad and have ruled against restricting her foreign travels.

Last week, ED director Sanjay Kumar Mishra was in Kolkata and had meetings with the top officials of the central agency as well as the legal brains representing the agency in the court. Mishra also gave some directions to the sleuths regarding the next course of investigation in the different cases of corruption that the agency is handling like teachers’ recruitment cases, cattle cases and coal cases.

Observers feel the spurt in activities of the sleuths immediately after Mishra’s visit to Kolkata is quite intriguing and more exciting developments are expected in the coming days.