In a major development, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the West Bengal Police has summoned Trinamool Congress (TMC) National General Secretary and Diamond Harbour MP Abhishek Banerjee. He has been directed to appear at the CID headquarters, Bhabani Bhawan, on Monday, June 1, at 12:00 PM.
The summons relates to an ongoing probe into the alleged forgery of MLAs’ signatures on an official party letter submitted to the state Assembly secretariat.
The case stems from the TMC’s efforts to nominate MLA Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay as the Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly following the recent elections. The Assembly secretariat rejected the TMC’s initial submission on May 6 because it had not been sent by the official TMC legislative party, as mandatory. On May 19, a second letter bearing the signatures of 70 out of 80 TMC MLAs—as well as Abhishek Banerjee’s—was submitted. However, the Assembly secretariat flagged multiple signatures that did not match official records.
Questions were raised regarding why Abhishek Banerjee signed the document despite not being a member of the Legislative Assembly. Furthermore, some legislators, including Canning East MLA Baharul Islam, claimed they were not even present at the meeting where the document was reportedly drafted.
Following a formal complaint by the Assembly secretariat at Kolkata’s Hare Street police station, the investigation was handed over to the state CID.
Serving the notice involved a game of cat-and-mouse across South Kolkata on Saturday afternoon. A five-member CID team initially arrived at the Shantiniketan Building on Harish Mukherjee Road—a property linked to Banerjee’s firm, Leaps and Bounds Private Limited—but was told by staff that the MP was not there. At the time, Banerjee was in Beleghata visiting the family of Biswajit Pattnayak, a party worker killed in post-poll violence on May 4.
After a wait of over an hour, the CID team successfully served the notice at Banerjee’s Kalighat Road residence.
Banerjee also accused the Suvendu Adhikari-led government of weaponizing local law enforcement, adding, “To the CBI and ED, Bengal Police and Kolkata Police have now been added. I have never surrendered to the BJP, and I shall never do so. I am made of a different metal.”
The CID has already intensified its probe, collecting signature specimens from several TMC legislators. On Friday, investigators questioned Chowringhee MLA Nayna Bandopadhyay. Speaking to reporters, Bandopadhyay confirmed she cooperated with the documentation requests and maintained that she was present at the meeting and signed the letter legitimately.
The political fallout comes at a sensitive time for the TMC. Following a severe election rout that ended the party’s 15-year rule in Bengal, Abhishek Banerjee has kept a low profile amid rising internal friction. A section of party insiders has publicly and privately blamed his leadership for the poll debacle.
In response to the internal dissent, Banerjee stated, “Some people have commented within the party forum, others have expressed their views in public. I welcome all criticism.”
To resolve the leadership deadlock, TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee has called a fresh meeting of all party legislators on May 31 to officially decide on the Leader of the Opposition position.
Separately, Abhishek Banerjee confirmed he is legally challenging notices served by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation regarding alleged building plan deviations at the Shantiniketan Building.
