KOLKATA: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday questioned Trinamool Congress national general secretary and Diamond Harbour MP Abhishek Banerjee in connection with its money laundering investigation linked to the alleged primary school teachers’ recruitment scam in West Bengal.
With the ED questioning him at its CGO Complex office in Salt Lake on Monday, Abhishek Banerjee has been facing back-to-back interrogations by investigating agencies since Thursday.
The Trinamool Congress national general secretary, considered second in the party hierarchy after the supremo and former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, was first questioned by the state Criminal Investigation Department (CID) at Bhabani Bhaban in Kolkata.
The CID interrogation was linked to allegations of forged signatures of MLAs on documents related to the appointment of the Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly.
Monday’s questioning by the Enforcement Directorate came in connection with its money laundering probe into the alleged primary school teachers’ recruitment scam in West Bengal.
The CID on Sunday also interrogated him for more than eight hours at Bhabani Bhaban in the same case. The state investigating agency also made Abhishek and his party MLA Kunal Ghosh sit face-to-face and questioned same day at the same venue.
Abhishek Banerjee appeared before the ED at around 11 am on Monday in response to a summons issued in the case.
After 11 hours of interrogations, Abhishek came out of the CGO Complex office around 10.30 pm and left for Mamata's residence straight from Bhabani Bhaban.
"I will come again if they issue me summon but we will not surrender even they slit our throats. Earlier, I have appeared before the investigative agencies several times. In Delhi, I have faced the agency two times. In all, I appeared before them nearly 10 to 12 times. Today, I have cooperated with the investigating officials," he said.
According to ED sources, investigators have prepared around two dozen questions for the TMC leader as part of their probe.
"The entire session was videographed, verified, and cross-checked with other evidence and the versions of other accused persons arrested in this matter," the sources said, requesting anonymity.
"Our focus is on the money trail. Who handled funds, and how they moved across accounts and entities, and whether these transactions were layered to conceal their origin," an officer said.
Officials said the ED would seek clarifications on "inconsistencies observed between earlier submissions and fresh materials recovered during searches".
"We have obtained bank records and communication data indicating the involvement of multiple fronts. Today's examination aims to reconcile those data points with Mr Abhishek's version," the official said.
In another development, a court in Paschim Medinipur district in Bengal issued an arrest warrant on Monday against Sumit Roy, a trusted long-time secretary of Abhishek, in connection with a land scam case in the district, police said.
The warrant was issued after investigators informed the court that Roy could not be traced despite repeated attempts to locate him.
Roy has meanwhile approached the Calcutta High Court seeking anticipatory bail. His counsel mentioned the matter before the bench of Justice Joy Sengupta, and the plea is likely to come up for hearing later this week.
A huge team from the Salboni police station (PS) in West Midnapore district conducted a sudden midnight raid at Abhishek’s Kalighat Road residence in the city on Saturday in search of Roy.
The raid was conducted in the presence of Abhishek and Mamata. The investigating police officials of Salboni, along with their counterparts from Bhabanipur and Kalighat PSs, left Abhishek’s residence at Patuapara around 8 am after a search operation at his house.
Roy was not found there during the search operation.
According to sources, Salboni police were looking for Roy for the past few days in connection with a case involving alleged transfers of crores of rupees to his bank account. Based on a complaint related to an alleged land fraud case in the Kharagpur area in West Midnapore district, police conducted an inquiry to probe the matter.
Salboni police arrested Sujoy Hazra, former TMC MLA, and interrogated him a few days ago.
Following investigations, police came to know that a huge amount of money in crores of rupees has been allegedly transferred to Roy’s bank account from Sujoy’s account.
After tracking his mobile tower location, the investigating police officials came to know he had been staying at his boss Abhishek’s residence on Kalighat Road and rushed to the spot.
