As the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) intensifies its investigation into allegations of signature forgery, TMC MLA Kunal Ghosh presented himself at the Bhawani Bhawan headquarters on Sunday afternoon for further questioning.
Speaking to ANI before leaving his residence, Ghosh said, “I have to report at 3:30 pm; they have called me as a witness for an investigation. I have always cooperated, and in this case, I will also cooperate. I have already appeared once, and perhaps there are further questions now; I am going and will cooperate fully.”
The probe concerns alleged irregularities in signatures on a document submitted to the West Bengal Assembly Speaker regarding the appointment of Sovandeb Chattopadhyay as Leader of Opposition (LoP).
On June 13, Mamata Banerjee was questioned by the CID for nearly five and a half hours about the signature forgery case at the agency’s headquarters in Kolkata’s Alipore area.
The case originated from a complaint alleging irregularities in a resolution submitted to the West Bengal Legislative Assembly about appointing Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay as Leader of Opposition, Asima Patra and Nayna Bandyopadhyay as Deputy LoP, and Firhad Hakim as Chief Whip.
On May 9, Abhishek informed the West Bengal Assembly Speaker that the appointment of office-bearers had been decided during a meeting of the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) legislative party.
Subsequently, on May 18, the Principal Secretary of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly wrote to Banerjee requesting the minutes and resolution of the meeting along with signatures of MLAs present during the decision-making process.
On May 20, Abhishek submitted a copy of the meeting resolution book and an attendance sheet listing signatures of those present at the meeting held on May 6, which recorded 70 MLAs in attendance.
On May 27, two TMC MLAs filed a complaint before the Speaker alleging that no resolution had been adopted about the LoP selection on May 6 and that they had only signed the meeting resolution book on May 19.
The complainants also claimed the resolution dated May 6 had been “manufactured and fabricated”, noting that as many as 14 signatures were in block letters. The CID has recorded the statements of 13 MLAs whose signatures appeared in block letters.
The Trinamool Congress subsequently suspended MLAs Sandipan Saha and Ritabrata Banerjee for “anti-party activities.”