The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday subjected Abhishek Banerjee the Trinamool Congress general secretary and nephew of Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to a marathon interrogation for more than 8 hours.
The Diamond Harbour MP who skipped the opposition INDIA alliance coordination committee meeting entered the ED office in Kolkata at around 11.45 am and was still inside the at CGO complex when reports last came in at 8 pm.
Banerjee is being probed for his alleged involvement in the multi-crore teachers’ recruitment scam that has seen a number of senior TMC leaders including State minister and former number 2 in the Mamata Banerjee Cabinet, Partha Chatterjee, MLAs Manik Bhattacharya, a sitting vice chancellor, chairpersons of School Services Commission, secondary school board besides many other lesser leaders and cash-collecting agents going to jail.
“Abhishek Banerjee has been called to answer certain questions regarding irregularities in the school recruitment process … he will be asked certain questions regarding the scam,” one of the ED officials said.
Though Banerjee was called under Section 160 as a witness, sources said that he was being made to explain a lot of things regarding the transactions of the company Leaps and Bounds of which he (and his family members) had been a director and the Chief Executive Officer.
According to sources he was made to confront a statement of confession made by Sujay Krishna Bhadra (alias Kalighat er Kaku or Uncle of Kalighat) and Chief Operating Officer of the company.
Bhadra — who filed his nomination as a dummy candidate allegedly at the behest of the TMC when Mamata Banerjee was contesting from Bhawanipore Assembly seat in 2021 — known for his proximity to Kalighat (read the residence of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee) is presently jail. He was also shown the transaction details of the money received by his company — as consultancy fees — from another company owned by Bhadra.
Meanwhile, the top TMC leadership once again lambasted the ED for acting at the behest of the BJP Government. “Abhishk Banerjee is being harassed because he is a rising leader and the people love him … the BJP failed to dent TMC’s bastion … they also lost in Dhupguri by-elections and so they have set the ED after him,” Bengal Minister Shashi Panja said.