The sleuths of the Enforcement Directorate seem to be in a state of disarray in the Kolkata cash recovery case as three MLAs seem to have ditched it and sought time to respond to its summons.

The ED had issued notice to the three suspended Congress MLAs in this case. The notice was served officially to MLAs Irfan Ansari, Rajesh Kacchap and Naman Bixel Kongari on January 7 asking them to appear on January 13,16 and 17 respectively.

Among them Kongari is the latest MLA who declined to appear before the ED today.” I have sought time on health grounds”, he told media persons.

Though these MLAs had acknowledged and admitted separately that they were summoned by ED, none of them have appeared before the central investigating agency.

Notably, they had also expressed in common though separately that they were “ ready to cooperate” with ED.

All of them have sought two-three weeks' time to appear before it. Alongside, reports indicate that each one of them were in touch with lawyers to move the court seeking to halt the ED investigation against them.

This appears to have left ED with no option but to wait for them to “ cooperate.” However, the ED has not made public its response to their separate plea seeking time to appear before it.

Another Congress MLA Kumar Jaimangal alias Anup Singh in the case on December 24, who had alleged that each of the three MLAs was offered Rs 10 crore along with a ministerial berth for a few of them to topple the Hemant Soren government.

However, after ED summoned and interrogated him, Singh is learnt to have kept “quiet” on his earlier statement recorded by the police in the form of his FIR that these three MLAs had “pressurized” him to come to Kolkata.