Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari on Monday said separate special investigation teams will probe the alleged fake beneficiaries of Lakshmir Bhandar, the women's cash transfer scheme of the previous Trinamool government, and the alleged forgery of signatures of MLAs in a letter submitted by the TMC to the office of the Speaker on the leader of Opposition in the Assembly.

The chief minister said it had been found that many men had availed of the women's financial assistance scheme during the previous state government’s reign.

"Around 30 lakh Lakshmir Bhandar accounts are fake. I have asked the director general of police (DGP) to form an SIT [special investigation team] to investigate the matter," Adhikari told reporters at the state secretariat, Nabanna.

He said that a money laundering probe will also be conducted as it involves illegal cash transfers.

He said that those who were questioning the 12-page verification form for the new BJP government's Annapurna Bhandar scheme, in which the financial assistance to a woman beneficiary will be increased to Rs 3,000 per month, should take into account the instances of illegalities noticed in the erstwhile Lakshmir Bhandar scheme.

Some men have already been arrested for obtaining benefits of the welfare scheme by way of false claims, Adhikari said.

"We will break these illegalities at the grassroots level," he said.

The chief minister said that Annapurna Bhandar benefits will be released to a large number of women beneficiaries on Wednesday.

On the alleged forgeries of signatures, Adhikari said the complaint came from two Trinamool MLAs, Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha.

Accordingly an FIR was lodged with the Hare Street police station on the Speaker’s instruction and later the case was handed over to the criminal investigation department (CID).

“This is not an act of vendetta. The law is very clear on this issue,” the chief minister said.

Soon after the chief minister’s press conference, the Trinamool expelled both Banerjee and Saha for anti-party activities.

On Saturday, a CID team went to Trinamool national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee’s Kalighat Road residence in Kolkata and served him a notice.

Abhishek was summoned to appear at the CID headquarters Bhabani Bhawan on Monday afternoon but did not turn up citing ill-health.

He has sought 15 days to appear before the CID.

“When we went to Lok Bhawan to stake claim to form the government, we had to submit a copy of the resolution. When my name was announced as the leader of Opposition (in 2021), a copy of the minutes was submitted. That is the rule,” said Adhikari.

The chief minister said the letter announcing Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay as the leader of Opposition was submitted to Speaker Rathindranath Bose’s office on May 20 and the Trinamool MLAs lodged a formal complaint a week later.

“The statements of 13 MLAs have been recorded. Another MLA is out of station and his statement will be recorded later. In the letter submitted to the Speaker, 10 names were in block letters. Three Trinamool MLAs – Baharul Islam, Arup Roy and Shubhashis Das – have given statements to the CID that the signatures in the document were not theirs,” said Adhikari. “The investigating agency can say on whose instructions this was done.”

The chief minister said he was stating certain facts about the case since the Trinamool was claiming vendetta politics.

“As the chief minister and home minister I instructed the CID to take over the case. I am not going to interfere in the investigation. That is not my job,” he said.

He said the signature scandal was indicative of the reign of corruption that the Trinamool had engaged in its 15-year rule and which was gradually being unearthed.

The chief minister referred to the ongoing probe in the beneficiaries’ scam in government schemes like Lakshmir Bhandar and pensions for senior citizens and widows.

“The investigators have so far identified around 22 such fake accounts being operated by three people in Murshidabad. One Mustafizur Rahman and his wife Tuhina operated 15 such fake accounts. Another individual identified as Tarikur Rahman operated six accounts. A special investigative team is probing the case and all involved in embezzling the taxpayers money will be arrested,” Adhikari said.

The chief minister also urged Bengal residents not to take the law into their hands.

Without referring to the attack on Abhishek Banerjee during his visit to South 24-Parganas Sonarpur on Saturday evening, Adhikari said protests were not required.

“The party [Trinamool] is almost defunct. Why give them any oxygen through such protests? I request the people to file complaints. Action will be taken,” Adhikari said. “The rule of law has been established in the state. The police and administration have also changed. Give us some time to clean the system.”