Kolkata , 20 September (H.S.) : The investigation into the Salboni government land scam has reached the top echelons of the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal. After previously informing the court that illegal funds generated from the sale of government land had been deposited into the bank account of the state Trinamool Youth Congress, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has now directly linked Diamond Harbour MP Abhishek Banerjee to the case.

According to documents submitted by the state investigating agency at the Medinipur court on Saturday, arrested accused Sumit Roy, who serves as Banerjee's personal assistant, made a controversial statement during interrogation. Roy claimed that a massive sum of money was deposited into the youth wing's bank account on the direct instructions of the parliamentarian.

Roy was produced before the Medinipur court on Saturday upon the expiry of his CID custody. According to court sources, the CID's investigation report mentioned that during interrogation, Roy claimed a person named 'T Ghosh' (identified as the MP's treasurer) handed him the money to deposit into the party fund, allegedly on Banerjee's orders. Roy asserted that he merely followed instructions and deposited the cash in the bank. He further claimed that he did not misappropriate any money from the land scam for personal gain and only visited Medinipur a few times on party directives.

Earlier this month, the CID filed a charge sheet against former Medinipur TMC MLA Sujoy Hazra, first bringing to light the involvement of a Youth Trinamool bank account at a nationalized bank branch on Harish Mukherjee Road in Kolkata.

The CID alleges that between 2018 and 2021, forged documents were used to illegally sell government land in Salboni. During this period, Roy allegedly deposited approximately ₹7 crore into the specified bank account in multiple tranches. When questioned about whose instructions he followed to deposit such a substantial amount, the personal assistant named MP Abhishek Banerjee.

The investigation has also revealed that two of Banerjee's security guards and Hazra's driver allegedly witnessed cash transactions between Hazra and Roy. According to the CID, Hazra would personally travel to Kolkata to deliver cash at Roy's office. However, investigators noted that since Roy did not have a dedicated personal office, his operations were managed either from an office on Camac Street (Shakespeare Sarani) or from Banerjee's MP office in Kalighat.

Investigating officers argue that it is highly improbable for a staff member to independently deposit ₹7 crore into a party account without higher authorization. Based on Roy's statement, the CID now plans to record the statement of 'T Ghosh.' Investigators have hinted that if the information provided by Roy regarding the source of the ₹7 crore is verified, Abhishek Banerjee himself could be summoned for questioning in the interest of the investigation.

Along with Roy, three other arrested accused in the case, Lakshmi Bhuiya, Nitya Roy, and Amit Ghosh, were also produced in the Medinipur court on Saturday. Public Prosecutor Syed Nazim Habib sought a seven-day extension of their CID custody for further interrogation. Although Roy's counsel initially moved a bail plea, it was later withdrawn. Following the hearing, the judge remanded all the accused to five days of CID custody.

The investigating agency has seized multiple documents and five mobile phones from the accused. They will be produced before the court again on September 24.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh