CID storms Mamata's residence, Abhishek's office in forgery probe

Kolkata : The agency officers maintained that the raids were held to dredge out the original copy of TMC's meeting resolution book and attendance sheet containing signatures of 70 MLAs present at the May 6 meeting held the party office adjacent to former chief minister Mamata Banerjee's residence.

CID conducted simultaneous searches at the TMC's headquarters and Abhishek Banerjee's office in the forged-signature case that triggered a split in the party.

Investigators were looking for the original resolution book and attendance sheet from the May 6 TMC meeting that purportedly endorsed Sovandeb Chattopadhyay as Leader of Opposition.

The raids came after Abhishek Banerjee allegedly skipped three CID summonses seeking his appearance along with the original documents for forensic examination.

CID teams faced initial resistance at both locations but eventually gained entry and carried out searches that lasted several hours, with no major seizures reported.

The case stems from allegations by rebel MLAs that the May 6 resolution was fabricated, a controversy that has spiralled into the biggest crisis in TMC's history and led to the party's first split since 1998.

The West Bengal Crime Investigation Department (CID) on Tuesday launched simultaneous searches at Trinamool Congress's central office at party supremo Mamata Banerjee's Kalighat residence and at national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee's Camac Street office in Kolkata, probing alleged forged signatures of TMC MLAs that triggered a party split.

The agency officers maintained that the raids were held to dredge out the original copy of TMC's meeting resolution book and attendance sheet containing signatures of 70 MLAs present at the May 6 meeting held the party office adjacent to former chief minister Mamata Banerjee's residence.

Both Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek were out of town, at the national capital for their scheduled meetings with leaders of the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA).

According to the CID, Abhishek Banerjee, based on the said resolution, had first intimated the Speaker of the Bengal assembly, on May 9, that the party had chosen Sobhabdeb Chattopadhyay as the assembly's Leader of Opposition, Asima Patra and Nayna Bandyopadhyay as deputy LoPs and Firhad Hakim as the chief whip.

Agency officers said that Abhishek followed up the intimation with a written communication to the Speaker on May 20, where he enclosed a copy of the meeting resolution book and the attendance sheet, reiterating the party's endorsement for the assembly posts.

Two expelled TMC legislators -- Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha -- had lodged a complaint before Speaker Rathindra Bose that 'no resolution was adopted about the selection of LoP' in the party's May 6 meeting, and that the duo had signed the meeting resolution book on a later date on May 19.

The MLAs alleged that the May 6 resolution was 'manufactured and fabricated' and stated that as many as 14 of the 70 signatures were in 'block letters'.

The CID had taken over the probe from Kolkata Police on May 28, a day after the Hare Street police station registered a case based on a complaint from the principal secretary of the state assembly with charges of cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy.

Tuesday's raids for the said documents were conducted in the wake of Abhishek Banerjee skipping three back-to-back appearance notices issued by the CID for questioning where the agency asked the leader to carry the original documents for necessary forensic examination, sources said.

Agency officials, accompanied by personnel from the Kalighat police station and a large contingent of women police personnel, arrived at the party's central office at 30B Harish Chatterjee Street in Kalighat at around 3 pm, sources said.

Abhishek was summoned for the third time by the CID to appear before it in connection with the case by 5 pm on Tuesday, after he avoided appearance on two earlier occasions -- on June 1 and June 8.

While the search operations at the Harish Chatterjee Street premises lasted for about two hours, the one at Camac Street went on for three, with no significant seizures made by the agency from either of the two premises, an officer said.

As soon as the news of the raids spread, senior TMC leaders and MLAs Kunal Ghosh and Madan Mitra reached the residence of the party supremo but were not allowed to enter the premises.

Later, TMC MP and advocate Kalyan Banerjee reached the spot and spoke to the CID officials.

The BJP and West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari are trying to harass the TMC supremo, the party MP alleged.

"The CID officials deliberately visited her residence on a day when she is out of town. The action of CID is not in accordance with the law. The CID team said that, as the meeting and the resolution were adopted here, they are searching the office of Mamata Banerjee. This logic is absurd. This is vendetta politics," he told reporters.

Initially, the investigating team was prevented from entering both the premises, leading to a brief standoff drama with security personnel posted at the two premises

At Kalighat, TMC leader and former MP Subhasish Chakraborty resisted the CID team's entry on grounds that he would not permit a search in the absence of Abhishek Banerjee and sought 48 hours from the agency officers before extending cooperation.

"We cannot allow the CID to enter the premises in the absence of Abhishek Banerjee. Once he comes, the CID can come and search the house," Chakraborty told reporters.

However, the situation changed later in the afternoon when the CID called in central forces and entered the premises despite what officials described as 'mild resistance' from security personnel stationed there.

Senior officers from the Kalighat police station rushed to the spot and were seen arguing with the security staff, who are attached to the Kolkata Police.

The officers reportedly instructed them not to obstruct the search operation being carried out by the investigating agency.

Sources said the CID team subsequently entered the residence-cum-office complex and began its search and verification exercise.

At Camac Street, the investigators gained access to Abhishek's office after an alleged initial resistance by the staff who had locked the entry door.

The development marks a fresh twist in the forged signature case that has snowballed into the biggest internal crisis in the TMC's 28-year history.

The crisis escalated when 58 of the TMC's 80 MLAs defied the party leadership and backed expelled MLA Ritabrata Banerjee for the LoP post instead of the party's official nominee, Sovandeb Chattopadhyay.

In a dramatic turn of events last week, the rebel camp wrested control of the legislature party, elected Ritabrata Banerjee as Leader of Opposition and secured recognition from the Assembly Speaker, resulting in the first split in the TMC since its formation in 1998.