(This story originally appeared in on Mar 16, 2016)

MUMBAI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is learnt to have got a couple of crucial leads while examining bank documents in the Rs 900-crore money laundering case connected with the defunct Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) case. Officials said that they manage to get the leads while examining a complex bank transaction.The ED had sought account transaction details from 17 banks and, till Tuesday, only five banks provided these. While examining the documents, it is learnt that officials traced a suspicious transaction about which they already had some information through their sources.The central agency had registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in the alleged loan fraud against controversial businessman Vijay Mallya , KFA’s former chief financial officer (CFO) A Raghunathan, the airline and four unnamed IDBI Bank officials.The ED has summoned Mallya via email and a letter, asking him to be present before the agency on Friday to record his statement in the case. But the ED didn’t get any reply from him till Tuesday. Mallya’s close associate UB Group CFO Ravi Nedungadi — who has opted for premature retirement — told ED officials that there was no communication between him and Mallya over the issue.The agency grilled Raghunathan and Nedungadi for three days in the case, stating that they are crucial for explaining the financial transactions and the money trail. Meanwhile, the ED exempted Raghunathan from questioning for a couple of days after he requested for time to collate the transaction details. An officer said, “We have most of the details, but we need specific replies. We are ready to wait and have given Raghunathan a few days to explain the transactions, after which we will decide on further course of action.”