Signature Forgery Case: CID Questions Senior TMC MLA Sovandeb Chattopadhyay

A two-member team of the state's Criminal Investigation Department visited Chattopadhyay's residence in Bhawanipur and spoke to him for more than an hour, sources said.

The visit marks the latest step in the widening probe into the politically sensitive case that has emerged amid an acrimonious battle for control of the TMC legislature party following the party's defeat in the recent assembly elections.

Speaking to reporters after the questioning, Chattopadhyay said he was willing to extend full cooperation to the investigation.

"I will cooperate with the probe more than 200 per cent. But those who made the allegations (of signature forgery) should also be questioned because everyone was present when the proposal was signed," the Ballygunge MLA said.

The controversy centres around a letter submitted to Assembly Speaker Rathindra Bose by the Mamata Banerjee-led faction proposing Chattopadhyay's name for the post of Leader of Opposition. The letter carried the purported signature of TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.

However, the Speaker declined to accept the communication after allegations surfaced that signatures on the document had been forged.

The complaint was raised before the Speaker by Uluberia Purba MLA Ritabrata Banerjee and Entally MLA Sandipan Saha, both of whom were subsequently expelled from the party.

In a dramatic escalation of the leadership tussle, Ritabrata later submitted another letter claiming the support of 59 MLAs and was eventually recognised by the Speaker as the Leader of Opposition.

The state government subsequently handed over the investigation into the alleged forgery to the CID.

As part of the probe, CID officers have questioned Abhishek Banerjee multiple times at the agency's Bhawani Bhavan headquarters and collected handwriting samples from several TMC legislators. Some MLAs have been served notices, while others have been questioned at their residences.

On Friday, CID officers visited the residence of TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee to serve a notice in connection with the case. However, the notice could not be delivered as the parliamentarian was in Delhi and his family members declined to receive it, sources said.

The investigation has unfolded alongside a parallel legal battle over the opposition leadership in the Assembly.

Chattopadhyay had moved the Calcutta High Court challenging the Speaker's decision to recognise Ritabrata Banerjee as the Leader of Opposition. A single bench declined to grant any interim stay on the decision.

The veteran TMC leader has since approached a division bench against the order, with the matter likely to come up for hearing next week.

The CID probe and the court proceedings have together added a fresh dimension to the continuing power struggle within the opposition TMC, where the contest over legislative leadership has increasingly spilled into investigative and judicial forums.