Trinamul national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Monday mounted a scathing offensive on the Enforcement Directorate (ED), alleging that it regularly fed fake stories to the media against him in order to please its “political benefactors”.

Abhishek then went on to accuse the central agency of neglecting its responsibility to serve the nation.

Currently in the US for treatment, Abhishek issued a statement on social media in the morning, with the title: “TRUTH is MIGHTY and will PREVAIL. (Flexed biceps emoji)”

“It is truly disheartening to behold the presence of inept and incompetent individuals within the ranks of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), who possess an unparalleled talent for disseminating concocted tales to the media on a bi-weekly basis, all in service of their political benefactors,” wrote Abhishek.

“It is worth noting that neither the ED nor the media publications, much like the BJP leaders in West Bengal, possess the confidence, courage, or conviction to explicitly accuse me in the allegations they espouse (Face with tears of joy emoji),” he added.

Abhishek, who is also a Trinamul MP and Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s nephew, has on a number of occasions in the past publicly spoken out against central probe agencies, alleging they targeted him and his family without good reason. He and Mamata have repeatedly attributed it to the “political vendetta” of the saffron regime.

Sources said Mamata, in her next public appearance in a day or two, is also likely to issue a stern statement in this regard.

“There were some recent below-the-belt activities of the ED with regard to Abhishek that displeased both a great deal,” said a Trinamul MP.

In the statement, he underscored the investment of time and taxpayers’ money in the ED’s probe endeavours along with its alleged failures.

“… they consistently fail to present substantive evidence before the court, thereby clearly neglecting their responsibility to serve the nation,” wrote Abhishek. “One cannot help but feel empathetic towards these unfortunate and frustrated souls,” he added sarcastically. “This leaves us no room for surprise as to why the ED’s conviction rate languishes at a mere 0.5 (per cent).”

Abhishek has appeared before the ED and the CBI in Calcutta and Delhi several times. His wife Rujira Narula too has been quizzed by the ED multiple times. There has been no official disclosure from the CBI or the ED on their findings from these interrogations.

The last time the ED summoned him on June 13, he wrote to the agency saying he would not be able to show up as he was busy with his party's outreach programme.