CID questions Abhishek Banerjee for over 6 hours

The West Bengal CID on Tuesday interrogated Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee in for over six hours in connection with his alleged inflammatory statements made during the Assembly election campaigning, an official said.

Banerjee, who reached the CID headquarters ‘Bhavani Bhavan’ here shortly before noon, came out of the State probe agency’s office at around 6.25 pm, he said.

After coming out of the agency office, Banerjee avoided taking questions from journalists and went to TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee’s Kalighat residence.

The CID also questioned the Diamond Harbour MP over another case in the alleged forgery of MLAs’ signatures on June 11 and 14. The TMC leader was interrogated on Monday by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the primary school jobs scam. According to a top official of the State probe agency, a set of questions was prepared for the Diamond Harbour MP in the ‘inflammatory’ statement case.

“He was also asked what the intention behind the inflammatory remarks he made during the election rallies was,” the official said.

The CID sleuths, it was learnt, showed Banerjee the video grab of the meeting where he allegedly made the statement during the interrogation. The entire interrogation session is being documented and videographed.

The FIR against Banerjee over his alleged inflammatory statements was lodged a month ago, based on a complaint filed by social activist Rajib Sarkar at Baguiati Police Station in North 24 Parganas district on May 5, a day after the assembly election results were declared.

It was alleged that the TMC national general secretary made provocative comments on post-poll violence and the vote counting process, a senior officer said.

The complainant also claimed that Banerjee’s inflammatory comments were linked to Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

The case has been registered under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Representation of the People Act, he said. The complainant accused Banerjee of delivering inflammatory speeches during several election-related programmes between April 27 and May 3. “He alleged that certain remarks made during public meetings were provocative in nature and had the potential to disturb public order and communal harmony,” the police officer had said.