West Bengal CID Searches State Assembly Over Alleged Forgery Of TMC MLAs' Signatures

A team of West Bengal CID investigators visited the state Assembly on Monday to look for a crucial party resolution document, as part of an ongoing probe into the alleged forgery of MLAs' signatures, PTI reported. The document was supposedly used to appoint the leader of the opposition.

The search for the resolution copy intensified following two rounds of questioning of Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, including a face-to-face interrogation on Sunday with Beleghata MLA Kunal Ghosh. While the CID has previously raided party offices and Banerjee’s workspace, investigators have widened their search to the Assembly Secretariat after failing to locate the document.

The investigation stems from events following a May 6 meeting at former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s Kalighat residence, where TMC legislators initially proposed Sovandeb Chattopadhyay for the post of Leader of the Opposition by a show of hands. Because a formal proposal was not submitted immediately, the Assembly Secretariat requested an official party resolution after the swearing-in of MLAs on May 13 and 14.

Subsequently, a document bearing the signatures of 70 legislators supporting Chattopadhyay was submitted after a fresh meeting on May 19. According to PTI, the matter escalated into an FIR and a CID probe after discrepancies were allegedly noticed between the signatures on the resolution and those on other official documents submitted by the MLAs.

The investigative team arrived at the Assembly around 2 pm on Monday and approached the Speaker's Secretariat to gather information regarding the submitted party resolution.

"The investigation is progressing on multiple fronts. We are examining documentary evidence, verifying statements and trying to establish the complete sequence of events. Certain inconsistencies noticed during questioning are being looked into carefully," a senior CID official said on the condition of anonymity.

The visit follows weeks of unsuccessful searches by the CID, which included operations at the TMC office adjacent to Mamata Banerjee's residence last week and Abhishek Banerjee's Camac Street office. Sources indicated that during his interrogation, Abhishek Banerjee was repeatedly asked about the whereabouts of the resolution copy but maintained that he was unaware of its location.

Following the joint questioning of Ghosh and Banerjee on Sunday, investigators decided to look for alternative institutional records. "The resolution document is considered important to the investigation. We are collecting all available records and information from relevant institutions to ascertain the facts," the senior CID official added, as reported by PTI. Several legislators have already been examined as part of the ongoing state probe.

(With inputs from PTI)