KOLKATAL: TMC national general secretary and MP Abhishek Banerjee repeatedly replied, “I do not know,” during his marathon questioning by the West Bengal CID in the alleged signature forgery case on Thursday.Investigators were reportedly dissatisfied with his responses and have summoned him again on June 14 for a second round of grilling, according to news agency PTI.According to a CID officer, Banerjee gave the same response to several questions related to the disputed resolution submitted to the Assembly and allegedly lost his temper at certain stages of the interrogation.Banerjee appeared before the state investigating agency on Thursday after skipping three earlier summonses and following directions from the Calcutta high court. He was questioned for several hours by a team of senior CID officers at the department headquarters.“Several questions relating to the resolution, the signatures appearing on it, and the supporting documents could not be conclusively addressed during questioning. Certain records sought by the investigating team are yet to be produced. He has, therefore, been asked to appear again on Sunday with relevant documents,” the officer told PTI.Investigators sought clarification on how signatures of legislators who were allegedly absent from the party meeting appeared on the resolution, who had signed the document, and where the original copy was located, the officer said.“The investigation is focused on establishing the authenticity of the documents and the circumstances under which they were prepared and submitted. Further verification is required before any conclusion can be drawn,” the officer added.According to news agency PTI, on May 6, TMC legislators met at Banerjee’s Kalighat residence and proposed Chattopadhyay’s name for the post. Legislators present at the meeting reportedly expressed support through a show of hands.However, the formal proposal was not immediately submitted to the Assembly. After TMC MLAs were sworn in on May 13 and 14, the Assembly Secretariat sought a resolution from the party naming its nominee.A fresh meeting was subsequently held on May 19, following which a document carrying signatures of 70 legislators in support of Chattopadhyay was submitted to the Assembly.Questions were later raised after discrepancies were allegedly noticed between signatures appearing on different documents submitted by TMC MLAs, leading to the registration of an FIR and a CID investigation.The state probe agency has already questioned several legislators in connection with the case.After leaving the CID headquarters on Thursday night, Banerjee went to TMC chief Mamata Banerjee’s Kalighat residence, where he attended a meeting with several senior party leaders before leaving without speaking to reporters.
