Kolkata, Oct 28 (IANS): The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has begun questioning the present and former personal assistants (PAs) of West Bengal forest minister and former state food & supplies minister Jyotipriya Mallick in connection with the multi-crore ration distribution scam in the state.

Both Amit Dey, the present PA and Avijit Das, the former PA of Mallick, appeared at ED's Salt Lake office in the northern outskirts of Kolkata on Saturday morning.

The questioning of the duo by two teams of the agency's investigating officials started soon. Sources said that while at the initial stage the two are being interrogated individually, at a later stage if necessity arises both may be questioned together.

"Since the minister is currently is hospitalised, we are unable to interrogate him despite the court having ordered an 11-day ED custody for him. So in the meantime, the higher authorities have decided to keep up the pace of investigation in the matter by questioning the present and former CAs of the minister," an agency insider said.

Incidentally, the suspicious maroon diary with the minister's nickname on the cover and containing the details of the transactions in the ration distribution case was recovered by the ED sleuths from the residents of Das.

The diary also had details of the payments done to different beneficiaries in the matter.

Meanwhile, the ED sleuths have taken the action of freezing the bank accounts of Mallick, his wife and his daughter. The decision to freeze their accounts was taken by the central agency sleuths after huge inward and outward remittances in and from these accounts were noted by the central agency sleuths.