Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
West Bengal’s already volatile politics witnessed a dramatic escalation on Tuesday as a team of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) arrived at the residence of former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, which also serves as the Trinamool Congress’s central party office, in connection with its probe into the alleged forging of signatures of TMC MLAs.
Another team of CID officials simultaneously reached the residence of Abhishek Banerjee, Trinamool’s national general secretary and Mamata Banerjee‘s nephew, as part of searches linked to the case, a controversy at the heart of an unprecedented split within the opposition party.
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Officials of the state investigating agency, accompanied by local police personnel and a large contingent of women police officers, reached Mamata Banerjee’s residence at 30B Harish Chatterjee Street in the late afternoon.
The CID team managed to enter the premises after a brief standoff with security personnel and a party leader and subsequently began a search and verification exercise inside the premises, according to sources.
The CID’s move comes days after the agency issued notices seeking information related to allegations that signatures of TMC legislators were forged on a proposal submitted to the Assembly Speaker for recognition of the Leader of Opposition.
According to CID officials present at the spot, the visit was prompted by a reply submitted earlier by TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.
“In his response, Abhishek Banerjee stated that the signatures of MLAs were collected at the party’s central office at 30B Harish Chatterjee Street. Based on that statement, we have come here as part of the investigation,” a CID officer said.
Abhishek Banerjee, who is currently in New Delhi along with Mamata Banerjee, was summoned by the CID to appear before the agency by 5 pm on Tuesday in connection with the case.
WHAT IS THE FORGED SIGNATURES ROW?
The controversy and legal actions erupted after a proposal sent to the Assembly Speaker seeking recognition of senior TMC MLA Sovandeb Chattopadhyay as Leader of Opposition allegedly contained forged signatures of several legislators. The allegations subsequently led to the registration of an FIR and a CID investigation.
The political rebellion traces its immediate origins to the dispute over the selection of the Leader of Opposition following the Assembly elections.
The crisis escalated after 58 of the TMC’s 80 MLAs defied the party leadership and backed expelled MLA Ritabrata Banerjee for the 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 the Leader of Opposition and secured recognition from the Assembly Speaker, resulting in the first split in the Trinamool Congress since its formation in 1998.
The CID’s simultaneous visits to the party’s Kalighat headquarters and Abhishek Banerjee’s office mark a significant escalation in the probe into the alleged forgery that lies at the heart of the political turmoil engulfing the opposition party.
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
