Kolkata

A team of West Bengal CID officials visited the state Assembly on Monday as part of its probe into the alleged forgery of MLAs' signatures for the appointment of the leader of opposition, an officer said.

A team of CID officers arrived at the Assembly around 2 pm and is believed to have approached the Speaker's Secretariat to gather information about a copy of the party resolution naming its nominee for the leader of opposition post, he said.

The CID has been searching for the resolution document for weeks.

"The investigation is progressing on multiple fronts. We are examining documentary evidence, verifying statements and trying to establish the complete sequence of events.

"Certain inconsistencies noticed during questioning are being looked into carefully," a senior CID official said on the condition of anonymity.

Monday's development comes after the CID questioned Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on two occasions in connection with the case. Several MLAs have also been examined by investigators.

On Sunday, CID officers interrogated Banerjee and the TMC's Beleghata MLA, Kunal Ghosh, by making them sit face-to-face.

Last week, CID investigators carried out searches at the TMC office adjacent to former chief minister Mamata Banerjee's residence but reportedly failed to recover the document. They also searched Abhishek Banerjee's office on Camac Street in the southern part of the city.

Sources said Abhishek Banerjee was repeatedly asked during questioning about the whereabouts of the resolution copy, but investigators were unable to obtain any definitive information.

He is understood to have maintained that he was unaware of its whereabouts.

Following the joint questioning of Ghosh and Banerjee on Sunday, investigators reportedly decided to widen their search for documentary evidence, leading to Monday's visit to the Assembly.

"The resolution document is considered important to the investigation. We are collecting all available records and information from relevant institutions to ascertain the facts," the senior CID official added.

On May 6, TMC legislators met at Mamata Banerjee’s Kalighat residence and proposed the name of Sovandeb Chattopadhyay for the post of Leader of the Opposition. Legislators present at the meeting reportedly expressed support by a show of hands.

The formal proposal, however, was not immediately submitted to the Assembly. Following the swearing-in of TMC MLAs on May 13 and 14, the Assembly Secretariat sought a resolution from the party naming its nominee for the post.

A fresh meeting was held on May 19, following which a document carrying signatures of 70 legislators in support of Chattopadhyay was submitted to the Assembly.

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Questions were subsequently raised after discrepancies were allegedly noticed between signatures appearing on different documents submitted by TMC MLAs.

The matter eventually led to the registration of an FIR and a CID probe. The state probe has already questioned several legislators in connection with the case.