The CID on Tuesday questioned Trinamool MP Abhishek Banerjee for more than six hours over allegedly inflammatory speeches made during election campaign rallies between April and May 3, sources said.
Investigators asked Abhishek why he had made the remarks and whether he was the person seen delivering them in videos that have circulated widely on social media, the sources said.
Tuesday’s questioning came after nearly 25 hours of interrogation by the CID and the Enforcement Directorate over the previous two days, taking the total time he has spent before investigators since Sunday to nearly 31 hours.
The CID had questioned Abhishek for more than 14 hours on June 11 and 14 in connection with its probe into alleged signature forgery involving Trinamool MLAs. On Monday, he was questioned by the ED for around 11 hours over alleged irregularities in appointments to state-aided schools.
Abhishek arrived at Bhabani Bhawan shortly before noon, the deadline set by the CID, and left around 6.25pm, after nearly six-and-a-half hours of questioning, without speaking to reporters.
Tuesday’s interrogation stemmed from a complaint filed by Rajib Sarkar at Baguiati police station on May 5 and later with the cybercrime wing of Bidhannagar police. The complaint alleged that Abhishek had made inflammatory, provocative and threatening remarks during election rallies.
In one speech, Abhishek said DJ music would be played instead of Rabindrasangeet after May 4, the day election results were declared, a remark that some construed as a call to violence.
“I will see who saves them on May 4, which Godfather from Delhi comes to their rescue,” he had said.
In another speech, he said: “Irrespective of how Mamata wins, the steering will be in my hands. The DJ will definitely play songs, and it will play in such a manner that it will rip their ears.”
Sarkar also alleged in his complaint that Abhishek had threatened Union home minister Amit Shah.
“The complainant alleged that certain remarks made by Abhishek Banerjee during election rallies were provocative and could disturb law and order,” a senior officer said.
The CID later took over the investigation and registered a case under several sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including criminal intimidation and promoting enmity and hatred. The agency issued a summons to Abhishek on Friday, directing him to appear on Tuesday.
Responding on Friday, Abhishek questioned why the Election Commission, then responsible for law and order, had not acted against him if his speeches were inflammatory. “If I had spoken about playing DJ after the elections, the Union home minister had said TMC men would be hung upside down,” he had said.
“Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. The EC knew that if they started a case against Abhishek Banerjee, they would have to do the same against Amit Shah. But Gyanesh Kumar (chief election commissioner) did not have the guts to do that,” he said. “Now, the government has changed; therefore, these cases. If there is an FIR because I had said that we would play the DJ, why will there not be an FIR against Amit Shah?”