The Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) questionnaire to Trinamool Congress (TMC) general secretary Abhishek Banerjee stemmed from the third supplementary charge sheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in court, which references a 15-minute telephone conversation.
According to ED sources, Abhishek’s name was mentioned multiple times during this phone call; the Diamond Harbour MP is now being questioned by the probe agency to verify whether he was indeed the person referred to in the telephonic conversation.
What are the claims
Sujay Krishna Bhadra, alias ‘Kalighater Kaku‘ (Kalighat’s uncle), was arrested in the primary teacher recruitment scam case, while the CBI took Shantanu Banerjee and Kuntal Ghosh into custody in the case.
The CBI has claimed that a meeting took place in 2017 at Bhadra’s Behala residence involving Shantanu and Kuntal. An audio recording from that meeting has surfaced during the probe agency’s investigation, in which they mentioned Abhishek’s name several times and discussed handing over the proceeds from the recruitment scam to the senior TMC leader.
The conversation also included references to former state Education Minister Partha Chatterjee.
What Abhishek may have demanded
Based on this audio recording, the ED had petitioned the court to examine a voice sample of Sujay Krishna Bhadra, a request Justice Amrita Sinha of the Calcutta High Court directed to be fulfilled.
According to allegations arising from the recording, Abhishek had allegedly demanded a substantial portion of the proceeds from the recruitment scam. Shantanu, Kuntal, and Sujay Krishna were heard discussing the logistics of handing over the cash and determined the amounts to be collected from the specific candidates. It was also alleged that Abhishek had allegedly threatened to halt the recruitment process if the bribe proceeds were not paid.
Abhishek reportedly learned that Partha Chatterjee, a key accused in the case, was granting jobs in exchange for bribes. Following this, he allegedly demanded Rs 15 crore from Sujay Krishna Bhadra. The CBI has claimed that this demand was specifically heard in the recorded conversation.
The recording further mentioned that a plan was devised to collect Rs 100 crore from the job aspirants to appease Abhishek. It was decided that Abhishek, Partha Chatterjee, and Manik Bhattacharya, the former chairman of the Primary Education Board, would each receive a share of Rs 20 crore, while the remaining amount would be distributed among the others individuals involved.
Role of ‘Leaps and Bounds’
Moreover, a company named ‘Leaps and Bounds’ may have been at the heart of this entire operation; Abhishek Banerjee may have served as a director of this firm.
ED sources indicate that proceeds from the recruitment scam were invested in the stock market through this company, which engaged in purchasing shares via options trading.
The agency also intends to scrutinize other entities linked to him and find out if any illegal financial transactions took place involving him.