CBI names ‘Abhishek Banerjee’ in job scam charge sheet, TMC MP calls it ‘fishing expedition’

Kolkata: The political circuit in West Bengal remained abuzz on Wednesday after it came to light that the CBI, in its recently submitted third supplementary charge sheet in the multi-crore cash-for-school job case, referred to an audio file of a recorded conversation from 2017 and named a certain Abhishek Banerjee who demanded Rs 15 crore for the illegal appointments.

The central agency, in the charge sheet, never clarified the identity of this Abhishek Banerjee, although the name bears exact resemblance to the name of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s nephew and Trinamool Congress national general secretary, against whom the state’s political opposition has, in the past, repeatedly alleged involvement in the scam.

The TMC MP has already appeared before central probe agencies - the ED and the CBI - multiple times and faced examinations in connection with the alleged recruitment irregularities.

Later in the day, the MP’s lawyer Sanjay Basu released a press statement and called the charge sheet submitted before a special CBI court claims “misleading and unsubstantiated” and branded it as “nothing more than a fishing expedition aimed at harassing my client.”

The 28-page charge sheet in question, a ‘certified to be true’ copy of which is in possession of PTI, was filed by the CBI on February 21, indicts Sujay Krishna Bhadra alias ‘Kalighater Kaku’ (uncle of Kalighat) and two others in connection with irregular appointments of teachers in state-run primary schools made through the selection process of Teachers Eligibility Test (TET), 2014.

The CBI identified Bhadra as the Chief Operating Officer of M/S Leaps and Bounds Private Limited.

Previously the ED had named TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee as the CEO of the company who had also remained one of its directors for a limited period.

In its charge sheet, the CBI refers to a “meeting held in 2017 at Bhadra’s Behala residence” where charge-sheeted accused Kuntal Ghosh, Shantanu Banerjee and two others, Aurobindo Roy Barman and Surajit Chanda, were also present.

The agency states that at the insistence of accused Kuntal Ghosh, his staff “Aurobindo Roy Barman had recorded the conversation on his mobile phone and later transferred the audio file to his laptop which was later recovered during investigation”.

While claiming that the purported conversation discussed the modus operandi of collection of bribes from undeserving candidates and getting them illegally appointed by manipulating the result, the CBI states that the appointments were secured by Ghosh, Banerjee and Bhadra “through accused Partha Chatterjee, the then Education Minister”.

“There was a rift between Abhishek Banerjee and accused Partha Chatterjee on the issue of illegal appointment and the accused Sujay Krishna Bhadra was heard saying that Abhishek Banerjee had demanded Rs 15 crore for the illegal appointment already done and when Sujay Krishna Bhadra express (sic) his inability to collect more money since the candidates had already paid Rs 6.50 lakhs each, then Abhishek Banerjee told Sujay to stop their appointment else he would get those candidates arrested or get the candidates posted at distant places,” the CBI states referring to the recorded conversation on page 15 of the charge sheet.

“It was also revealed that Sujay Krishna Bhadra, Santanu Banerjee and Kuntal Ghosh were planning for a collection of a bribe amount from additional 2000 candidates, for their appointment, to the tune of Rs 100 crore for paying off Shri Partha Chatterjee, Shri Abhishek Banerjee and Shri Manik Bhattacharya (co-accused former primary board president and TMC MLA now out on bail) Rs 20 crore each and sharing the remaining amount among themselves,” the agency further stated in its charge sheet.

Responding to the charge sheet claims, Banerjee, in his statement, alleged being “unjustly targeted by the agency”.

“Despite my client’s full cooperation with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) – appearing whenever summoned and providing all necessary documents – the CBI has resorted to baseless allegations. Notably, the ED, responsible for investigating alleged proceeds of crime, has not filed any charge sheet against my client, underscoring the absence of incriminating material against him,” the lawyer’s statement read.

“The alleged third supplementary charge sheet is nothing more than a fishing expedition aimed at harassing my client. The CBI has failed to provide a shred of corroborative evidence, with no supporting documents appended to its claims. This is yet another instance of my client being unjustly targeted,” the statement added.

Banerjee referred to the “previous failed attempt by the ED” to implicate him and hit back at the “political forces” who have now turned to the CBI for “misusing central agencies to push their agenda”.

“The CBI’s politically motivated narrative is a blatant attempt to tarnish Shri Abhishek Banerjee’s reputation. By inserting unverified statements into a case concerning others, the agency has raised serious concerns about the fairness of its investigation,” the read.

“Shri Abhishek Banerjee remains resolute in his pursuit of truth and justice. He will not be intimidated by these baseless allegations and will fight relentlessly to expose this conspiracy, safeguard his integrity, and ensure justice prevails,” it concluded.