Kolkata: Trinamool national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee was questioned by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for over eight-and-a-half hours at Bhawani Bhawan on Sunday. This marked his second session with the agency in connection with the Signgate investigation. Part of the questioning involved Banerjee being made to sit face-to-face with party colleague and MLA Kunal Ghosh, with investigators posing multiple questions to both.
On Friday, Banerjee was questioned in the same case for five-and-a-half hours. Banerjee, who was asked to report at noon, arrived at the CID headquarters at 11:43 am. He underwent standard security checks before walking in. At the gate, a sentry told him that he had to furnish an ID proof and sign the attendance register at the reception. Banerjee completed the formalities and proceeded to the interrogation room. He left Bhawani Bhawan at 8:20 pm.
Ghosh reached the CID headquarters around 3:20 pm. "I will answer (CID's questions) to the best of my ability. All I know is that the signature (on the Trinamool resolution proposing Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay as leader of opposition in the assembly) is mine. I cannot vouch for the rest," he told reporters while eating an ice cream, before entering Bhawani Bhavan. Ghosh, however, refused to field most questions from the media after emerging from CID HQ a little after 7 pm. By then, the newly appointed president of Trinamool's North Kolkata unit had faced interrogation for over three hours.
Ghosh confirmed he had been made to sit face-to-face with Banerjee for some time. When asked about the questioning, he said, "...I am cooperating, that's all." From Bhawani Bhawan, he rushed to Mamata Banerjee's Kalighat residence.
Sources in CID said both Banerjee and Ghosh were asked to identify the signatures on the resolution. Ghosh was also questioned about the resolution book and whether he was aware of where it was kept. He was asked whether he had seen the signatures of other MLAs when he signed the resolution book and who had been present at the meeting of party legislators where the resolution was adopted.
CID sleuths reportedly used Ghosh's statements to cross-examine Banerjee. "The signatures on the documents do not match the sample signatures of the MLAs. Banerjee was questioned to establish whether he had any role in the discrepancy," said a CID source. "We kept asking him about the resolution book, and he kept denying any knowledge of it. Several questions related to the resolution, the signatures appearing on it and the supporting documents could not be properly addressed during questioning. He did not reply to the most important question — where the resolution book is."
Like on Thursday, Bhawani Bhawan was transformed into a fortress on Sunday. Senior officials, especially those in the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed to probe the Signgate case, reported for duty early in the morning. Large contingents of the state police, central paramilitary forces and Rapid Action Force threw a ring around the area.
On Monday, Banerjee is scheduled to appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) at the CGO Complex in Salt Lake in connection with the primary teacher recruitment scam. On Tuesday, the agency is set to question him on his remarks during the poll campaign.
The Sunday questioning follows a dramatic, pre-dawn police operation at Banerjee's Kalighat residence on Saturday. Tracking the mobile tower location of his aide Sumit Roy, a police team from Salboni swooped down on the property around 3 am. Roy, however, was not found at Banerjee's residence.
