KOLKATA: The West Bengal crime investigation department (
CID) has recorded statements of 13
Trinamool Congress (
TMC) MLAs so far as part of its probe into alleged signature forgery case.
According to officials, three legislators have stated that the signatures in the May 6 Meeting Resolution Book have not been done by them.
They said MLA from Canning Purba has stated that he did not attend the meeting held in Kolkata.
The CID has issued a notice to (TMC) general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, MP, asking him to appear before investigating officer with the original meeting resolution book.
The case stems from a complaint alleging irregularities in a resolution submitted to the West Bengal Legislative Assembly regarding the appointment of Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay as the Leader of Opposition, Asima Patra and Nayna Bandyopadhyay as Deputy Leaders of Opposition, and Firhad Hakim as Chief Whip.
On May 9, Banerjee informed the speaker of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly that decisions regarding appointment of office-bearers had been taken during a meeting of the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) legislative party.
Later, on May 18, the principal secretary of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly wrote to him seeking submission of the minutes and resolution of the meeting, along with signatures of MLAs present during the decision-making process.
On May 20, Banerjee submitted a copy of the meeting resolution book along with an attendance sheet containing signatures of the members present at the meeting. The document stated that 70 MLAs were present at the meeting held on May 6.
On May 27, two AITC MLAs filed a complaint before the speaker alleging that no resolution had been adopted regarding the LoP selection on May 6 and that they had signed the meeting resolution book only on May 19.
The complainants further alleged that the resolution dated May 6 was "manufactured and fabricated," and claimed that as many as 14 signatures appeared in block letters. The CID has recorded statements of 13 MLAs whose "signatures were in block letters".
The TMC has suspended the two MLAs, Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha, for anti-party activities.
Following a complaint by the principal secretary of the Assembly, Hare Street Police Station registered a case on May 27 under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) related to cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy. The CID took over the investigation on May 28.
(With inputs from ANI)
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