Kolkata: All India Trinamool Youth Congress president Abhishek Banerjee rubbished the reports claiming that his wife Rujira Banerjee had been detained with 2 kg gold at Kolkata Airport, calling it a 'completely false story' and a 'politically motivated' one. He claimed that the same has been shared on social media platforms to malign his reputation.
He said he will take legal action against channels showing the story and claimed that the complaint wasn't even signed. He added: "It reached media offices before reaching the police station." Defamatory action will be taken against all those tweeting regarding the issue, said Banerjee. "Did the Customs officials seize any dutiable or objectionable item from her baggage? Why did they not mention them in the FIR? They did not mention any gold seizure in their official complaint," he added.
An irate Banerjee challenged Customs officials to exhibit proof that his wife was carrying even 2 grams of gold, saying that he will quit politics if the same can be proved. The Trinamool Youth Congress president posed five questions on Sunday, calling for release of the CCTV footages of his wife's stay at the airport. Rujira had been detained by Customs officials from 12.40 am to 1.55 am on the intervening night of March 14-15.
The TMC leader asked why the customs officials did not seize or confiscate the gold. He also raised questions on why the Customs took a week to register an official complaint in this regard, where his wife had lodged a complaint with the police on the very next morning.
"The FIR was lodged by the Customs after the commissioner of Customs wrote to the assistant commissioner of Customs (Admin), in a file marked as secret. The draft of the FIR was prepared from Delhi. It was also mentioned that the action was taken as per instruction of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs under the department of Revenue in the Ministry of Finance. Did the customs officials lodge a complaint a week after the incident after being instructed by their political bosses?" he asked.
"All this was done following the instruction of CBIC and due to pressure from Delhi. If you read the first paragraph of the FIR it says that Rujira Banerjee and Menka Gambhir were randomly selected considering their movement and profile. I need an explanation from the Customs as to why the term profile was used by them. They could have used the word appearance, suspicion or body language," Banerjee maintained.
He also stated that no police personnel from Bidhannagar intervened when she was detained by the Customs officials. He alleged that customs officials had demanded Rs 50,000 from her. A lady police personnel only intervened after Banerjee's wife fell ill. "Why did the Customs officials not seek help from the CISF if Bengal police had intervened? My wife was heckled only because she refused to pay the money," Banerjee pointed out.Turn to PG7