Kolkata: Sleuths of the Enforcement Directorate on Monday interrogated Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee for over 11 hours in connection with their probe into the alleged primary school recruitment scam, an official said.
The marathon questioning took place a day after Banerjee had a similar session for nearly eight and a half hours with the state CID regarding the alleged forgery of MLAs’ signatures on documents related to the appointment of the Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly.
After coming out of the ED office at around 10.15 pm, he alleged that summonses like this are attempts to destroy the opposition forces.
The TMC MP reached the ED’s CGO Complex office a few minutes before 11 am, following a summons issued in the money laundering probe linked to irregularities in the recruitment of primary teachers.
The official also said the federal probe agency has listed two dozen questions for the TMC leader in connection with the scam.
“The entire session was videographed and documented. They will be verified, and cross-checked with other evidence and the versions of other accused persons arrested in this matter,” the official told PTI.
There were two breaks during Monday’s marathon session of the Diamond Harbour MP, who was also confronted with financial documents, digital records and statements from other accused persons to trace the alleged proceeds of crime, he added.
“Our focus is on the money trail. Who handled funds, how they moved across accounts and entities, and whether these transactions were layered to conceal their origin,” the official said.
The agency would seek clarifications on “inconsistencies observed between earlier submissions and fresh materials recovered during searches”.
