TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee reaches the CID headquarters for a second round of questioning in connection with the alleged forgery of the signatures of MLAs for the appointment of the leader of opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, in Kolkata, on June 14, 2026.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Sunday (June 14, 2026) appeared before the West Bengal Police’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for the second time in connection with the case pertaining to forgery of signatures of MLAs.
The CID had asked Mr. Banerjee to appear before it at 12 p.m. However, he reached the police headquarters at Bhabani Bhawan at 11.43 a.m. Trinamool spokesperson and Beleghata MLA Kunal Ghosh arrived around 3 p.m. for questioning in the same case. Mr. Banerjee was still being questioned when Mr. Ghosh left the building after four hours around 7:25 p.m.
Mr. Banerjee made his first appearance before the CID on Thursday (June 11, 2026) after the Calcutta High Court had earlier in the day directed the Trinamool leader to appear before the agency in connection with the West Bengal Assembly signature scandal investigation by 6 p.m. on the same day. The court also granted three-week interim protection to Mr. Banerjee, directing that the CID cannot take any coercive action as long as he cooperated with the investigation.
The CID investigation was prompted after a First Information Report (FIR) was filed in relation to a complaint by Trinamool MLAs Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha alleging that their signatures were forged in the letter nominating Sovandeb Chattopadhyay as the Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly. The letter was submitted to the Speaker on May 20.
The State agency then issued several summons to Mr. Banerjee, who had signed the letter. However, he did not appear in person, citing health issues, and sought 15 days more to respond.
On June 9, a search was carried out at the residence of former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at 30B, Harish Chatterjee Street, which also serves as the Trinamool’s central party office, by the CID. The agency had claimed that the address was mentioned in the response given by Mr. Banerjee, and that it had come looking for the original resolution containing the forged signatures.
Meanwhile, the Trinamool had moved the Calcutta High Court on Wednesday (June 10, 2026), challenging the legality of the search operation carried out at the party office adjacent to Ms. Banerjee’s residence in Kolkata’s Kalighat area.
On Saturday (June 13, 2026), an official team from West Medinipur’s Salboni police station also entered Mr. Banerjee’s residence at Patuapara Road in the Kalighat area of the city in the early hours in search of his personal assistant Sumit Roy, in connection with alleged financial embezzlement linked to a land fraud case.
Mr. Banerjee will also be facing a series of interrogations on Monday and Tuesday.
On Monday (June 15, 2026), he is to be questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) at its Salt Lake office, located on the northern outskirts of Kolkata, in connection with the multi-crore cash-for-school job case in West Bengal. The ED has already served him a notice in the matter on June 3.
On Tuesday, he is again expected at the CID headquarters to face interrogation in connection with a case where he has been accused of inciting violence and threatening Union Home Minister Amit Shah before the recent Assembly election in the State. The CID officials served him a notice in the matter on the evening of June 12.
It is not clear whether he will appear before the relevant officials on Monday and Tuesday. Mr. Banerjee does not have protection from the High Court against police action in these two cases for now.
Published – June 14, 2026 12:17 pm IST
