The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday questioned Trinamul Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee in Calcutta for seven hours in connection with alleged pilferage of coal worth hundreds of crores of rupees, but the investigators said they were not satisfied with his replies and another round of interrogation might be needed.

As the Diamond Harbour MP was being questioned at the CGO Complex office in Salt Lake, the Supreme Court asked the ED not to take coercive action against him till Monday.

This is the third time that Abhishek has faced the ED interrogators. The first two rounds of questioning had been in Delhi, before the Supreme Court directed the ED that it could question chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s nephew and his wife Rujira in Calcutta, instead of the national capital.

Senior ED officers said Abhishek’s questioning, which began at 11am, had mostly been centred around alleged receipt of “cuts” amounting to several crores of rupees from a racket involved in the pilferage of coal from parts of West Burdwan district. “Vinay Mishra, who was allegedly close to Abhishek, used to collect the amounts and route them to certain shell companies that have links with Abhishek,” said an ED source.

Abhishek Banerjee (not seen) enters the ED office at Salt Lake in his car on Friday for questioning Gautam Bose

Mishra’s brother Vikash has been arrested in this connection and the sleuths said certain leads got from the latter had prompted them to “cross check” some details with Abhishek in Calcutta.

The ED had said earlier that the Mishra brothers had received “proceeds of crime worth Rs 730 crore on behalf of some influential persons and for themselves” in the case involving an estimated amount of Rs 1,352 crore.

Vinay is absconding and the CBI, which is also probing into the alleged coal pilferage scam, has said he “acted as a middleman link to collect illegal gratification on behalf of public servants and used to give patronage and protection to the smugglers using his connections in lieu of money routed through non-existent shell companies”.

There was no official statement from the ED about Abhishek’s questioning in Calcutta. Senior officers said they were not content with the Trinamul MP’s replies to several questions relating to the alleged transfer of funds.

The national general-secretary of Trinamul denied his involvement and insisted he had not received any funds as payback from the cartel that would run the coal pilferage racket, they said.

“We might need to question him again if required,” said a senior ED official.

Since Abhishek’s arrival at the ED’s Salt Lake office in the morning, most of Bengal was curious about the developments that were being played out with the Trinamul leader facing a team of interrogators. The eyes were on the Supreme Court as well, where Abhishek’s plea for interrogation in Calcutta was being heard. The apex court ruled that the case would be heard again on Monday till then no coercive step could be taken against Abhishek.

Abhishek didn’t comment about the day’s development in the apex court but said it was a moral victory that the ED had to question him in Calcutta today.

“On the last two occasions I had to go to Delhi. This time they had to come to Calcutta on the direction of the court. This is the first moral victory for us,” the Diamond Harbour MP said.

The Trinamul leader appeared upbeat and buoyant as he stepped out of the CGO complex in the evening at the end of the questioning session. Banerjee’s address was largely political where he trained the guns against the BJP and the Centre.

Addressing a small crowd outside the CGO Complex, he trained his guns at Trinamul turncoat and leader of the opposition Suvendu Adhikari repeatedly.

He linked Adhikari to Vinay Mishra, the alleged kingpin of the coal and cattle smuggling rackets.

“I know a journalist who has a phone record of Suvendu Adhikari speaking with the main accused in the coal and cattle smuggling cases, who is apparently absconding, eight months ago and assuring him of safety…. I challenge Suvendu Adhikari to file a case against me… I will produce that audio clip in court and let forensic tests be done to ascertain the voices.”