KOLKATA: Rujira Banerjee, wife of senior Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee, was allegedly stopped from boarding a UAE-bound flight citing a "lookout" notice by the Enforcement Directorate that asked her to appear before them on June 8, her lawyer said.
Sources said Rujira reached Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport with her two children around 7 am to board the flight.
"She was stopped at the immigration, citing a lookout notice issued by the ED in a case. A Supreme Court order says there is no bar on her foreign visits," one of her lawyers told PTI.
The lawyer said she had informed the ED on Saturday about her travel plans and gave a copy of her tickets to the agency.
"Now she has been stopped. She was also handed over a copy of a summons dated June 5 asking her to appear before the ED office in Kolkata on June 8. She has now returned home," he said.
Repeated attempts to get a version from the airport and ED authorities elicited no response.
A press statement issued by her office also claimed there is a Supreme Court order which says there are no foreign travel restrictions on the couple.
"Rujira Banerjee had visited USA from October 5 to October 18 and there was no objection from the ED then. Rujira had not been stopped from travelling abroad during the ongoing investigation by the ED. She has not been called for interrogation except once in June last year, which she duly complied with," the statement said.
Last year, the ED had questioned her in connection with a coal pilferage scam.
The CBI had also questioned her in 2021 in the same case.