Trinamool Congress's (TMC) Rajya Sabha leader Derek O'Brien on Tuesday accused investigating agencies of carrying out a politically-motivated operation, after a CID team entered party supremo Mamata Banerjee's Kolkata residence as part of a probe into alleged forging of signatures of MLAs. In a post on X, O'Brien alleged that the action was deliberately timed to coincide with a meeting between Banerjee and Congress leader Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi. "Political vendetta shamelessly timed! Exactly at the same time as AITC Chairperson Mamata Banerjee was having a meeting today in Delhi with Mrs Sonia Gandhi, CID was forcefully trying to enter the AITC party HQ adjoining residence in Kolkata. First loot vote, now loot files of a political rival. Democracy?" he said.
Banerjee's Kolkata residence also doubles up as the TMC's central party office. O'Brien claimed that the main entrance to the premises was "overloaded with CRPF".
A CID team on Tuesday entered Banerjee's residence in Kolkata's Kalighat area, after a brief standoff with security personnel and a TMC leader, as a part of its probe into a controversy surrounding alleged forged signatures of party MLAs, which has triggered a split in the TMC. Officials of the state investigating agency, accompanied by personnel from the Kalighat police station and a large contingent of women police personnel, arrived at the party's central office at 30B, Harish Chatterjee Street around late afternoon, sources said.
The CID's move comes days after the agency served notices seeking information related to the alleged forging of signatures of TMC legislators on a proposal submitted to the Assembly speaker for recognition of the leader of opposition. TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee, who is presently in New Delhi along with Mamata Banerjee, was summoned by the CID to appear before it in the case by 5 pm on Tuesday.