KOLKATA, June 9 — A specialized team from the Criminal Investigation Department on Tuesday searched the Kalighat headquarters of the Trinamool Congress as part of a widening forgery investigation. The agency deployed personnel to the Harish Chatterjee Street property and simultaneously dispatched a secondary unit to Abhishek Banerjee’s office on Camac Street to secure records connected to a disputed legislative proposal.
The sudden escalation follows the registration of a First Information Report tracking allegations that the signatures of several MLAs were duplicated without consent. The document at the center of the dispute was meant to endorse senior leader Sovandeb Chattopadhyay, but it ultimately triggered a rebellion that fractured the party’s legislative strength.
TMC leaders initially attempted to halt the proceedings, arguing that searches should not happen while top organizers were away in the national capital. Defending the initial decision to restrict access to the complex, TMC leader Subhasish Chakraborty stated:
“We have not allowed the CID to enter the premises in the absence of Abhishek Banerjee. Once he comes, the CID can come and search the house.”
The resistance subsided after senior officers from the Kalighat police station intervened, directing the inner security detail to cooperate with the federal probe requirements. Investigators then entered the office-cum-residence complex to carry out specific signature and document verification exercises.
The political dispute escalated significantly last week when a dissident faction of 58 legislators bypassed the official party platform to install an independent leadership structure in the Assembly. CID officials noted that the dual searches are aimed at finding the physical registries and documentation where the contested signatures were originally compiled.
