Trinamul national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee said he was being targeted by central probe agencies over the past four years of the saffron regime, after his sixth appearance on Thursday before one such agency — the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s nephew, who appeared before the ED for barely an hour on Thursday, alleged political vendetta.
“I have been targeted for the past four years by central agencies. If they don’t find anything against me in one case, they connect me to another. This is their standard practice.... I have appeared for (or have responded to) all the summons... shared all requested documents,” said Abhishek on his way out of the ED office.
Before Thursday, Abhishek sat before the ED for nine hours on September 13.
“This surely is part of a political vendetta, and the people understand this…. Since they (the BJP) can’t fight us politically, they have been misusing central investigation agencies instead,” the Diamond Harbour MP said. “If you (the ED) have anything against me, submit it before the judiciary.”
Senior ED officials said in their attempt to trace the money trail in the alleged recruitment irregularities in state-aided schools, they got leads following the custodial interrogation of Sujay Krishna Bhadra aka Kalighater Kaku, the chief operating officer of Leaps and Bounds Private Limited. Abhishek is its CEO.
Thursday’s questioning, said officials, was aimed at finding the exact nature of the company’s operations and transactions.
“We want details of the company's functioning, its transactions since inception in 2012, and details of assets of employees from Abhishek,” said a senior ED official.
On Thursday, Abhishek said he gave a 6,000-page reply, and would fully cooperate if the ED called him after going through it.
“The high court order of September 22 says that ‘the ED is unable to submit any proof against Abhishek Banerjee’,” said Abhishek. “I will repeat what I've been saying since the first day. If there is anything substantial against me, there is no need to call me. Prepare the gallows and I will readily hang myself," he added.