Kolkata: A report submitted to the Election Commission by the District Magistrate of North 24-Parganas in connection with the detention of Rujira Banerjee, wife of Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee at Kolkata Airport, says that there is no mention of any gold in the seizure list by the Customs.
The report has validated Abhishek Banerjee's claim who had categorically stated during a press conference on Sunday that his wife had not been carrying any gold when she was intercepted by Customs officials inside Kolkata Airport on the night of March 15. He had also challenged the Customs officials to produce CCTV footages, if they had any, to prove that his wife was carrying gold.
Following the incident, the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) in the state sought a report on the entire incident from the District Magistrate of North 24-Parganas Antara Acharya, who is also the District Election Officer (DEO).
After being instructed by the commission, the DEO on Tuesday submitted the report to the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) on Tuesday, which apparently validates Banerjee's claim.
The incident had triggered a political slugfest in the state ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Banerjee had expressed strong objection after many news portals and some national news channels reported the incident without verifying the authenticity of the allegations.
The commission had also received several complaints in this regard from various political parties. Banerjee's lawyer had filed a complaint with the CEO's office against BJP's MP from Asansol Babul Supriyo, for making false statements regarding the issue, on his Twitter handle. The fake news related to the incident was also
mentioned in the complaint by his lawyer.
A senior official of the CEO's office has confirmed that the report has been received. After going through the report, the CEO's office will finally send it to the Election Commission of India (ECI) in Delhi. The CEO's office will act according to the instructions of the ECI in this regard.
It has been learnt that the DEO has submitted the report on the basis of inputs provided by Bidhannagar Police. The CEO's office has no jurisdiction to intervene in the Customs related matter and hence it is up to the ECI to take up the matter with the Central agencies if it feels so.
"We have received a factual report from the DEO of North 24-Parganas on the matter. We are looking into it," a senior election official from the CEO's office said.