The CID on Friday served a notice on Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, directing him to appear before investigators on June 16 in connection with a case over an alleged provocative statement made during election campaigning, after officers visited his residence here and waited for nearly two hours to hand over the document personally.
However, they had to deliver the notice to an employee at the TMC MP’s office as Banerjee did not meet them.
A team from the West Bengal CID reached Banerjee’s residence in the afternoon to serve the notice. However, the Diamond Harbour MP was not present at home when the officers arrived.
Family members and office staff informed the CID team that Banerjee had gone to attend a meeting at the residence of party supremo and former chief minister Mamata Banerjee, located in the adjoining lane.
After waiting for nearly two hours, the officers again approached the residence and sought to serve the notice directly on Banerjee. As Banerjee did not meet the investigators, the notice was eventually handed over to an employee at his office, an officer said.
“A notice has been duly served as part of the ongoing investigation. He has been directed to appear before the investigating officers on June 16,” a senior police officer said.
The case stems from a complaint filed over remarks made by Banerjee during poll campaigning.
The complaint was initially lodged at Baguiati Police Station and was later investigated by the Cyber Crime Police Station under the Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate before being transferred to the CID.
“The investigation is being conducted in accordance with due process. Officers visited the residence for service of notice in connection with the case,” the officer said.
The development comes a day after Banerjee appeared before CID officers at the agency’s headquarters in Kolkata and was questioned for nearly six hours in a separate case relating to the alleged forgery of signatures linked to the appointment of the Leader of Opposition in the state assembly.
A CID officer said that Banerjee is also scheduled to appear before the CID headquarters on June 14 in connection with that case.
Assembly elections in Bengal were held in two phases, on April 23 and 29, and the BJP secured a landslide victory, defeating the TMC which had ruled the state since 2011.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
