Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA Madan Mitra has been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on July 29 at their CGO complex office in Salt Lake, Kolkata. The notice was served in the municipality recruitment case, which comes soon after Mitra gave his speech at the July 21 Martyr's Day programme on Mayo Road on Tuesday. Mitra, a close aide of Mamata Banerjee, recently joined the rebel faction led by Ritabrata Banerjee.
“I will cooperate with investigations,” said Madan Mitra after getting the notice. He was part of the Martyr's Day rally led by the rebel faction.
The Kamarhati MLA’s wife has also been summoned by the ED on July 23. Several properties belonging to Mitra were searched by the ED in June in connection with the same case, where several documents were recovered.
On July 14, Mitra had received an ED notice, after which he visited rebel TMC MLA Sandipan Saha’s house and joined the rebel camp the following day in the West Bengal Assembly. Mitra has been vocal against Abhishek Banerjee, but has said that he considers Mamata Banerjee as his leader.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Abhishek’s lawyer sent a defamation notice of Rs 10 crore to Mitra for making derogatory remarks and calling him a criminal. The comments were made during a Facebook Live session on July 19 where, according to the defamation notice, Mitra reportedly made comments affecting his personal reputation.
“It is made clear that the said Rs 10 crore shall be put into a registered trust, which shall facilitate the defection proceedings against defected MPs and MLAs of AITC and shall also cater to the legal and rehabilitation requirements of the victims of political violence inflicted upon them by false criminal cases instituted at the instance of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), hand in glove with a few unattached defected Members of Lok Sabha and of West Bengal Legislative Assembly,” read the notice.
Abhishek’s counsel, Shrobana Sengupta, has issued the notice wherein Mitra has been asked to pay the amount within three days and also issue a public apology in written and video formats. Mitra had attacked Abhishek on the July 21 Martyr's Day rally stage, asking Mamata to join their faction while saying, “It is your party; it is not Abhishek’s party.”
