Fresh trouble for Mamata’s TMC and Abhishek as CID probes Salboni land case
The case relates to allegations of fraudulent sale and transfer of government land in Salboni in West Midnapore that had originally been allotted to refugees for cultivation
Days after losing its original name and symbol, Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) is facing a fresh source of trouble, with the CID claiming a new lead linking party national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee to the Salboni land fraud probe.
The immediate lead came recently from the interrogation of Abhishek’s personal assistant, Sumit Roy, who is now in CID custody.
According to investigators, Roy told them that T Ghosh, described as Abhishek’s treasurer, handed him money on the MP’s instructions to deposit into a party account at a public sector bank’s Harish Mukherjee Road branch in Kolkata. Roy deposited Rs 7 crore into the account in several tranches, investigators claimed.
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Roy’s statement, however, remains to be corroborated, and the CID is examining how far it can be substantiated.
Tracing money trail
CID sources, however, said investigators are actively pursuing the lead by tracing the money trail transaction by transaction, checking the dates and locations of the alleged payments, phone location data, CCTV footage, bank deposit slips and the denominations of cash.
They are also examining where the money went and whether it was subsequently withdrawn or transferred.
The ultimate destination of the money is particularly important, sources said, as a separate investigation into the financial trail found a Rs 30-crore transfer from a TMC account to Leaps and Bounds Pvt Ltd, a company linked to Abhishek. Investigators are examining whether that money too is linked to the alleged land transactions.
Did alleged land deals money reach Roy?
CID case documents identify the account receiving the Rs 7 crore as belonging to the West Bengal Trinamool Youth Congress.
The fact that the alleged money was deposited into a party-linked account rather than Roy’s personal account is an important line of inquiry being pursued by investigators, sources added.
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The CID is trying to establish whether money from the alleged land deals reached Roy and was then deposited into a TMC account, as that could raise the possibility of a chain of instructions from the party’s top leadership.
Investigators have reason to believe that such a substantial transaction into the party fund could not have been Roy’s decision alone, given that he had no significant standing in the party beyond his role as Abhishek’s aide, sources said. That could potentially take the investigation beyond the alleged land transactions towards the chain of instructions behind the payments.
Witness statements support allegation
The CID already claimed to have witness statements supporting its allegation that former TMC MLA Sujoy Hazra passed money from the alleged land transactions to Roy.
The case relates to allegations of fraudulent sale and transfer of government land in Salboni in West Midnapore that had originally been allotted to refugees for cultivation.
According to the CID chargesheet, Hazra and his associates allegedly occupied the plots and sold them after breaking the land into smaller parcels, using forged documents and fictitious names and addresses of purported sellers.
Local farmers who had been cultivating the land for years were allegedly forced out after 2021 to facilitate the sale and transfer of the plots.
Roy’s older mobile phones key
What intrigued investigators was why a former TMC MLA involved in the alleged land racket would hand substantial sums to Roy personally if he was not collecting the money on behalf of someone else or the party.
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If the money was intended for the party, who instructed Roy to accept it and why was he chosen to make the deposits? The CID is now trying to find out, an inquiry that could bring the TMC’s top leadership under serious scrutiny.
Currently, the CID is trying to establish whether the alleged Hazra-to-Roy payments match Roy’s bank deposits and whether those deposits can be connected to money generated from the disputed land transactions, sources privy to the investigation said.
To establish the link, investigators believe Roy’s older mobile phones could provide a missing link. The CID seized a newer phone belonging to Roy but could not find the older devices.
They suspect the old phones could contain calls, messages or other digital evidence relevant to the alleged money trail.
What Roy’s lawyer said
The CID, however, has another loose end to tie, as Roy’s lawyer Agnish Basu disputed the agency’s account of his client’s statement that Ghosh handed him money on Abhishek’s instructions.
Basu also pointed out that when Roy and Hazra were questioned together, Hazra denied sending money to Roy and that the exchange was videographed.
The CID, however, believes the next stage of the investigation could corroborate Roy’s statement and the subsequent money trail, and is considering questioning Abhishek when he returns to India after his medical check-up abroad.
Given that earlier investigations seeking to establish Abhishek’s links to alleged grafts have not so far resulted in a proven connection despite several rounds of questioning, it is to be seen whether the CID’s latest lead will ultimately yield evidence linking him to the alleged transactions.
Nonetheless, the CID’s latest claim could not have come at a worse time for the party, which is trying to recover from the setback it suffered after the Election Commission (EC) froze its original All India Trinamool Congress name and twin flowers and grass symbol for the ensuing by-elections amid rival claims over the party’s identity.
