Coal smuggling case: ED summons 8 IPS officers to Delhi

KOLKATA: Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday summoned eight Bengal cadre IPS officers in connection with the coal smuggling case probe.

They have been given specific dates to appear at the ED headquarters in Delhi between August 15 and August 30.

According to sources, the eight IPS officers include Rajeev Mishra, Gyanwant Singh, Sukesh Jain, Shyam Singh, Tathagata Basu, S Selvamurugan, Koteswar Rao Nalavath and Bhaskar Mukherjee. ED stated that all these IPS officers, at some point in time, were posted in multiple districts (in the coal belt) in the state as Superintendent of Police (SP) and had also held the post of range officers.

Reportedly, ED wants to question these IPS officers if they were aware of the illegal trade or not. If yes, then what steps they had taken to stop the malpractice.

Meanwhile, it may be mentioned that earlier the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested several persons in connection with the case, including a few present and former Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL) officials.

The central investigating agency had also filed chargesheet against the arrested ECL officials, sources said.