New Delhi, Mar 27 (IANS): The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has summoned the alleged mastermind of the illegal coal smuggling scam in West Bengal, Anup Majhi aka Lala, for questioning on March 30, sources said on Friday.

A CBI source related to the probe told IANS, "The agency has summoned Majhi in connection with the case for questioning on March 30 at its Kolkata office."

The source said that the summon to Majhi came a day after the Supreme Court stayed his arrest till April 6. The action is related to the case the agency had registered in November last year involving illegal coal pilferage.

The CBI had earlier this week questioned former Commissioner of Asansol, Laxmi Narayan Meena, for over three-and-a-half hours in connection with the case.

The CBI had registered a case against the alleged kingpin of the pilferage racket Majhi, Eastern Coalfield Ltd GMs Amit Kumar Dhar and Jayesh Chandra Rai, ECL chief of security Tanmay Das, area security inspector Kunustoria Dhananjay Rai, and SSI and security in-charge of Kajora area, Debashish Mukherjee, in November last year.

The CBI has also recorded the statement of Rujira Banerjee, the wife of Trinamool Congress MP and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's nephew Abhishek Banerjee, and his sister-in-law Menka Gambhir in the last week of February.

The CBI had recently carried out searches at several locations in West Bengal, including the premises of Amit Agarwal, a close aide of Majhi, in connection with the case.

The central agency's actions have turned the heat on poll-bound West Bengal, where the ruling Trinamool Congress and the BJP are engaged in a bitter battle.