Political tensions rose in West Bengal after police conducted a late-night search at Abhishek Banerjee’s residence
High drama unfolded in Kolkata in the early hours of Saturday after a team of West Medinipur Police reached the residence of Trinamool Congress General Secretary and MP Abhishek Banerjee for a late-night operation linked to an alleged extortion case.
According to sources, the police team arrived at Banerjee’s residence around 2.30 am in an attempt to locate his personal secretary, Sumit Roy, who has been booked in connection with an alleged extortion case. The officers reportedly sought to conduct searches inside the premises, leading to a confrontation with Banerjee’s security personnel.
Sources said the security team initially stopped the officers from entering the house. Following a brief standoff, the police allegedly entered the premises and carried out searches.
Mamata Banerjee rushes to nephew’s residence
As news of the operation spread, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee reportedly rushed to her nephew’s residence and confronted the police team, sources claimed.
The tense situation continued for some time before the police team left the residence. Mamata Banerjee also departed shortly afterwards.
Heavy deployment of state police and central security personnel was seen outside the residence on Saturday morning.
When approached by reporters, Abhishek Banerjee declined to comment on the late-night developments, saying only that questions should be directed to the investigating agencies.
Fresh CID notice adds to mounting pressure
The midnight operation comes amid increasing legal scrutiny of the Trinamool leader. The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has issued a notice directing Abhishek Banerjee to appear before investigators on June 16 in connection with an alleged hate speech case linked to the West Bengal Assembly election campaign.
The notice adds to another ongoing probe in which Banerjee was questioned for nearly six hours on Thursday regarding alleged discrepancies in the signatures of several Trinamool Congress legislators on a key Assembly resolution related to opposition appointments.
Banerjee appeared before the CID after allegedly skipping three earlier summons. His appearance came after the Calcutta High Court directed him to cooperate with investigators while granting protection from coercive action, including arrest, for 21 days.
Investigators have summoned him again for further questioning in the matter.
ED raids former minister Madan Mitra’s residence
Meanwhile, another senior Trinamool Congress leader has come under the scanner. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted searches at the residence of MLA and former minister Madan Mitra in Dakshineswar on Saturday in connection with the alleged municipality recruitment scam.
According to sources, investigators suspect that Mitra received bribes in the form of cash and gold through intermediaries in exchange for facilitating appointments to various municipal posts, including in Kamarhati.
Sources claimed that the former minister may be linked to more than 125 allegedly illegal appointments. The probe is continuing.
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