KOLKATA: The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday issued a notice to state home secretary H K Dwivedi to appear before it in connection with its ongoing probe into the Metro Dairy share transfer and disinvestment case.
Another state government official besides Dwivedi is likely to be questioned as well, officials said.
Dwivedi was the state finance secretary in 2017 when the Metro Dairy disinvestment took place. The ED, officials said, was looking into “alleged anomalies in the share transfer”. The state government divested its 47% share in Metro Dairy to Keventer Agro Ltd for Rs 85 crore in 2017. A Singapore-based company picked up 15% of Keventer Agro shares, allegedly for Rs 170 crore, in 2017 itself.
The ED in June 2020 sent notices to four IAS officers, including Dwivedi, to appear before it in connection with its probe. Several politicians too have been questioned in this case. The agency is also trying to figure out whether the issue was raised in Metro Dairy board meetings after 2017.
The firm was set up jointly by the Bengal government and the National Dairy Development Board in the 1980s.
Dwivedi could not be contacted for comment.