Police Search at Abhishek Banerjee's Residence Sparks Political Row

PTI, June 13, 2026, Kolkata: In a predawn raid certain to deepen the political faultlines in West Bengal, police personnel, accompanied by Central forces, searched TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee's residence here for several hours on Saturday in pursuit of his close aide in connection with an alleged financial fraud, officials said.

The operation, led by a team from Paschim Medinipur's Salboni Police Station and assisted by Kolkata Police personnel, began at around 2 am and triggered a confrontation, with the TMC alleging "political vendetta" and BJP leaders insisting that investigators were merely following due process.

Former Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee rushed to her nephew's Kalighat residence and remained there till the search operation was concluded and the police left the premises.

Police sources said the search was primarily aimed at tracing Abhishek's personal assistant, Sumit Roy, who is wanted in connection with an ongoing investigation into a "financial fraud" case registered at Salboni Police Station.

According to the sources, Roy's mobile phone was last traced to Banerjee's Kalighat residence, prompting investigators to launch the operation.

The officials said the raiding police team repeatedly knocked on the doors of the MP's residence but received no response and was made to wait outside for nearly four hours.

The TMC alleged that the police team broke open a lock and entered the premises to carry out the search.

"They broke the lock and searched the entire house," Banerjee told reporters after the raiding team left at around 7.30 am after searching the premises for nearly an hour and a half.

Asked if Roy could be traced at the premises, the TMC leader said: "You should ask that question to the police who searched my house thoroughly. I am not the spokesperson of the police."

Sources in the investigating team said Roy could not be located despite the extensive search, and the team left without making any seizures.

The police officers, however, declined to disclose details of the case or the evidence they were seeking.

Saturday's operation came at a politically sensitive moment for Banerjee, who has found himself facing scrutiny from multiple investigating agencies over the past week.

The TMC reacted sharply to the police action.

In a brief post on X, the party said: "Political vendetta gets from bad to worse."

Rajya Sabha MP Sagarika Ghose alleged that police arrived at Banerjee's residence around 3 am and that a disaster management team was subsequently called in to break open a lock before the search began.