Dare CBI To Arrest Me If There Is Corruption Proof: Abhishek Banerjee After Summons

The CBI has summoned TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee to appear at its Kolkata office on Saturday as part of its investigation into the school jobs scam.

File Photo Of TMC Leader Abhishek Banerjee

Source : PTI

Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Abhishek Banerjee has been summoned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to appear at its Kolkata office on Saturday as part of its investigation into the school jobs scam. He has decided to temporarily halt his mass outreach campaign in order to participate in the investigation. 

"I am returning to Kolkata tonight due to a development," PTI quoted Abhishek Banerjee as saying. PTI reported citing TMC officials that the party's national general secretary has decided to return to the city on Friday, putting a halt to his ongoing mass outreach campaign.

In response to the summons, Banerjee said in Bengal's Bankura, "Dare the CBI to arrest me if there is proof of any corruption against me".

Banerjee had received a letter inviting him to join the investigation at its headquarters at Nizam Palace in Kolkata, as per media reports. Earlier on Thursday, the Calcutta High Court dismissed Banerjee's petition seeking the recall of a previous order of the court that stated that investigative agencies such as the CBI and ED could question him about the teacher recruitment scam.

The TMC leader's name appeared in a complaint filed by Kuntal Ghosh, an accused in the scam, who claimed that central investigating agencies pressured him to name Abhishek Banerjee in the recruitment case.

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Kuntal Ghosh, an accused in the scam, filed a complaint in which the TMC leader's name appeared. Ghosh claimed that central investigating agencies were pressuring him to name Abhishek Banerjee in the school scam case.

"Abhishek Banerjee will appear at the CBI's Nizam Palace office at 11 AM. He will attend one event in Bankura before departing for Kolkata," a TMC leader was quoted as saying.

"I have full respect for the judiciary and the court," Abhishek said to reporters after the Calcutta High Court decision was announced on Thursday. "I have no reservations about cooperating with investigators. Previously, whenever central agencies summoned me, I appeared and offered my full cooperation," he said.