Bengal MLAs signature case: CID summons Abhishek Banerjee again for questioning on June 14

Abhishek Banerjee has been summoned again by West Bengal CID on June 14 in the MLAs’ signature mismatch case after reportedly failing to provide satisfactory answers during six hours of questioning. Investigators are seeking details about the original resolution book and meeting records

Kolkata: Trinamool Congress general secretary and the party’s Lok Sabha member, Abhishek Banerjee, has been asked to appear before the CID again in the MLAs’ signature mismatch case on June 14, said officials on Friday. He was grilled for almost six hours and released a little before midnight on Thursday at the headquarters of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in South Kolkata.

Abhishek Banerjee, also the nephew of the former West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, appeared for questioning at the CID headquarters on Thursday in connection with the ongoing probe in the case of mismatches in the signatures of several Trinamool Congress legislators on a crucial resolution relating to the appointments for opposition slots in the West Bengal Assembly.

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Insiders from the state police said the main reason for summoning Abhishek Banerjee for further interrogation again on June 14 is that during the prolonged interrogation on Thursday, he was unable to answer specific queries about the original resolution book and the minutes of the meeting.

Sources said that in the face of queries from the investigating officers, the Trinamool Congress general secretary was even unable to answer where the original resolution book is now. “Even when asked that as a party’s general secretary could he deny having knowledge about the resolution book, he even lost his cool for a few minutes,” said an insider aware of the interrogation proceedings on Thursday.

Sources also said that besides queries regarding the details of the original resolution book, Abhishek Banerjee failed to give specific answers to several other queries from the investigating officers in the matter, following which he has been summoned again on Sunday.

After being released a little before midnight on Thursday, Abhishek Banerjee went straight to the residence of Mamata Banerjee at Harish Chatterjee Street. However, nothing transpired about the discussion between them there. After dodging three consecutive notices for interrogation, Abhishek Banerjee finally turned up to face the questioning on Thursday. This came after the single judge vacation bench of the Calcutta High Court, earlier in the day, set a deadline of 6 p.m. to appear at the CID office for interrogation.

Although the bench granted him protection from coercive police action, including arrest, for 21 days, it directed Abhishek Banerjee to cooperate with the investigating officers. The bench also gave a free hand to the CID to conduct raids and search operations according to necessity for a fair investigation in the matter.