Trinamool Congress General Secretary and Lok Sabha member Abhishek Banerjee arrived at the state’s Criminal Investigation Department headquarters at Bhabani Bhawan to face CID questioning once again in the MLA signature mismatch case. The CID had summoned Banerjee to appear by noon, but he reached the office earlier than scheduled.
Following a directive from the Calcutta High Court, Banerjee was instructed to cooperate with the state police intelligence department’s investigation into the case. The court also ruled out any coercive action by the CID against him for the next two weeks.
Banerjee’s car pulled up at the CID office at 11:43 a.m. on Sunday. After initial formalities at the reception, including displaying his identity card and signing the attendance register, he proceeded inside for questioning.
Security measures were heightened at Bhabani Bhawan, with additional police and Central forces deployed on the premises. Despite it being a holiday, CID officials were present at the office early in the morning.
Banerjee had previously appeared at the CID office for questioning regarding the signature forgery case on Thursday, where he was interrogated for over five hours. Following the session, the Diamond Harbour MP headed to Mamata Banerjee’s residence in Kalighat.
Scheduled for further interrogations on Monday and Tuesday, Banerjee is set to face questioning by the Enforcement Directorate at its Salt Lake office on Monday, related to a cash-for-school-job case in West Bengal. The CID has also summoned him for interrogation on Tuesday concerning allegations of inciting violence and threatening Union Home Minister Amit Shah before the state’s Assembly polls.
It remains uncertain whether Banerjee will comply with the summons on both days, as he currently lacks protection from police action in these cases as granted by the High Court.
