Signgate row: 45-minute standoff and 105-minute CID search ends in 'nil' seizure list at Mamata Banerjee's Kalighat home

KOLKATA: In a scene rarely witnessed in Bengal, a 30-member CID team accompanied by central force personnel entered former chief minister Mamata Banerjee's 30B Harish Chatterjee Road address on Tuesday and searched the party office adjoining her home. They left 105 minutes later, after handing over a 'Nil' seizure list.

The search, which relates to the Signgate row, took place while Mamata was in Delhi. Her nephew and Trinamool national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee's Camac Street office was also searched. Abhishek skipped CID's third summons on Tuesday.





The Trinamool office, whi-ch shares the same address as Mamata's residence, is critical to Signgate probe, CID sources claimed. This was where the first letter to the assembly speaker, proposing Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay's name as leader of opposition, was signed on May 6. The letter, according to a complaint filed by some Trinamool MLAs (all part of rebel bloc), allegedly contained forged signatures.

Around 3. 30pm, a black SUV with three senior CID officials stopped outside the former CM's house. The rest of the team had already gathered at the spot. A standoff with former Trinamool Rajya Sabha MP Subhasish Chakraborty delayed the team's entry by 45 minutes as he insisted that as "voluntary in-charge of the property" he could not let the CID officials enter Mamata's residence in her absence.

The CID officials insisted Chakraborty had no locus standi to stop them. "According to the reply Abhishek Banerjee gave us, the meeting to appoint LoP was convened at 30B Harish Chatterjee Street. So we need to search this place as he (Abhishek) is not cooperating. You cannot stop a search, which is part of the probe," an officer told Chakraborty.

CID came looking for May 6 meeting records
Subhashis Chakraborty, also a lawyer, countered that he was neither delaying the search nor creating a disruption. “Since the occupants are currently in Delhi to attend important meetings, I am volunteering as the custodian of the office. I do not know what communication took place (between the CID and Abhishek). Iam only requesting you to provide an additional two days so that the occupants can return. We will then fully cooperate with you. If you have already waited for a week, you can easily wait for two more days,” he argued.

Around 4:15 pm, eight CID officers, including two women officers, made their way inside. Despite the dramatic scenes and heavy security presence, the search ultimately ended without any recovery. The officials reportedly questioned staff members and examined the party office. Security personnel said the investigators sought information about the May 6 meeting and asked for files and records related to the event. The officials recorded in their seizure list that nothing had been seized, damaged, or destroyed. When asked if anything had been found, the officials offered no comment.

The search drew several Trinamool MLAs and MPs to the Kalighat address. Between 4:40 pm and 5:00 pm, party seniors Kunal Ghosh and Madan Mitra arrived at the spot but were not allowed inside. Ghosh said, “I was supposed to come here for party work. On my way, I heard about the CID search, but I am not going to turn back because of it. I have arrived and am waiting outside.” Mitra said, “This is unprecedented in Bengal’s politics. They could have waited until she returned. Who knows what the hurry is.”

Around 5:30 pm, MP Kalyan Banerjee walked inside even as the search was on by virtue of being the party’s lawyer. He alleged that CID had brought two witnesses, both BJP workers, from a different neighborhood. “This is an absolute farce. The occupants of the house are not here. They have brought two people from Bhowanipore as witnesses who know nothing about the case,” Kalyan said.