On Tuesday afternoon, a new stir arose in Bengal politics as CID reached the Trinamool Congress (TMC) party office opposite TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee’s house. Not only Kalighat, another CID team also raided TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee’s office on Camac Street at the same time.

A large CID team reached TMC’s office in Kalighat, with women police also brought by bus. Initially, the team had to wait outside the office for quite some time. TMC’s former MP and party treasurer Subhasish Chakraborty opened the gate and came out. He got involved in an argument with the CID team, claiming that Mamata and Abhishek were in Delhi and, in their absence, he was in charge of looking after the office. Since both were not in Kolkata, he said he could not allow CID to enter.

The CID team repeatedly told Subhasish that they had come to conduct a search and that who was present there had no connection with the investigation. They showed him the notice sent to Abhishek and sought permission for the search. But Subhasish said, “Those who are not here, how can I give permission to enter their office?”

CID officers reached TMC’s party office at 30B, Harish Chatterjee Street in Kalighat to conduct a search. The address is not only TMC’s office; Mamata also lives there. As Mamata is attending the anti-BJP INDIA alliance meeting in Delhi, Abhishek is also with her. The CID team said they had come to search the office in the signature case investigation and had followed the law. After much dilly-dallying and a war of words with TMC leaders, the CID team entered the office a little after 4 pm.

Abhishek Banerjee is under CID’s scanner in the signature case. The allegation is that he sent a proposed letter signed by TMC MLAs to Assembly Speaker Rathindra Bose, in which the signatures of a few MLAs were allegedly “forged”. The meeting where the MLAs’ signatures were collected was held at this Kalighat office. According to sources, investigators went to the office adjacent to Mamata’s house to find out what exactly happened in that meeting, who was present and who signed. CID also wants to collect the CCTV footage from there.

Following the investigation into the signature case, CID first went to Abhishek’s Kalighat house on 30 May. The TMC MP was directed to appear on 1 June. But instead of appearing, Abhishek sought 14 days’ time from CID. However, CID did not give Abhishek time. On 1 June, CID again went to the Kalighat house and served a notice directing him to appear within seven days. But Abhishek did not appear on Monday either.