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Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra on Thursday again opted not to attend the third summons issued by the Enforcement Directorate regarding discrepancies in a foreign exchange contravention case.
As per sources, Mahua evaded the summons, citing her engagement in campaigning activities in West Bengal's Krishnanagar. This marks the third occasion where Mahua has failed to appear before investigators, evading the summons related to the case. Moitra was asked to join the investigation into the matter and appear before the investigators at ED headquarters in Delhi today. The fresh summons followed the earlier two summons when she skipped the investigation and did not appear before the investigators on March 11 and February 19. Moitra has been asked to join the probe with some documents related to some foreign investments kinked to the case. The agency wants to question Moitra in the case under the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999. The ED investigators want to record her statement linked to the case. The 49-year-old politician is being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) too and it is conducting a preliminary inquiry into the allegations against her on the reference from Lokpal. It is learnt that the ED case is based on the reference of the CBI case. Moitra has been in controversy since Bharatiya Janata Party MP Nishikant Dubey accused her of asking questions in the Lok Sabha to target the Adani Group and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the behest of businessman Darshan Hiranandani in exchange for gifts. Dube had also accused Moitra of compromising national security for monetary gains. Moitra was expelled as a Lok Sabha Member of Parliament (MP) on December 8 following the Ethics panel's determination of her guilt in the 'cash-for-query' case. Moitra has denied any wrongdoing and claimed she was being targeted as she had raised questions on the deals of the Adani Group. "Neither has Lok Pal uploaded any referral order on the website as per the Lokpal Act nor has CBI put out anything official. 'Sources' telling journos as per the usual media circus. Hope Rs 13,000 crore Adani coal scam merits CBI PE before my witchhunt," Moitra had said on X in November. Moitra had also approached the Supreme Court challenging her expulsion from the lower house of Parliament in connection with the 'cash-for-query' allegations. (ANI)
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