Kolkata: A district court in North 24 Parganas, West Bengal, on Tuesday granted permission to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to collect voice samples of Trinamool Congress general secretary and Lok Sabha member Abhishek Banerjee in connection with a case where he has been accused of inciting violence and threatening Union Home Minister Amit Shah before the recently concluded Assembly polls.
Based on video footage of Banerjee’s alleged statements at a pre-election rally, the CID approached the Bidhannagar Court seeking permission to collect his voice samples.
On Tuesday, the judicial magistrate granted permission and set June 30 as the collection date.
The process will be conducted in the presence of a judicial magistrate and forensic experts.
Banerjee had earlier been questioned for six and a half hours at CID headquarters in Bhabani Bhavan, South Kolkata, earlier this month.
Last month, an FIR was registered against him at the Bidhannagar Cyber Crime Police Station. The case was later handed over to the CID on June 11.
Banerjee is also under CID scrutiny in another case involving mismatches in signatures of Trinamool legislators on a resolution relating to appointments reserved for the opposition bench in the Assembly.
He has already been questioned twice in that matter.
Earlier, Abhishek Banerjee approached the Calcutta High Court seeking permission to travel abroad. The Diamond Harbour MP drew attention to the matter before the bench of Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya. The case is likely to be heard later this week.
Abhishek Banerjee wants to travel abroad for eye treatment. The Trinamool leader of the Mamata Banerjee-led faction has sought seven days’ permission in this regard.
It has been learned that there is no obstacle to Abhishek Banerjee travelling abroad at present. However, his name is involved in several pending cases. The court has asked him to cooperate in the investigation in those cases. In this situation, Abhishek sought the court’s permission to travel abroad for eye treatment.
In October 2016, Abhishek Banerjee was involved in an accident on his way back to Kolkata from a party programme in Murshidabad district. He suffered serious injuries to his eye in that accident. He first visited several hospitals in the country and later sought treatment abroad.
(IANS)
