Aroop Biswas ‘freeze account’ letter shadow on Trinamool money
Times of India | 19 June 2026
Kolkata: Former state sports minister Aroop Biswas — now being probed for last December’s “Messigate” at Salt Lake stadium — wrote a letter six days ago to HDFC Bank, asking for the party’s account to be frozen.
The letter, to the bank’s Central Plaza branch, sought a “freeze” till “competent authorities” could decide who controlled the party. Aroop’s letter — dated June 12 though it was received by the bank on June 16 — became public knowledge on Thursday, the day he presented himself to cops for the probe in the “Messigate” affair.
Biswas’s letter was written a week after the Trinamool National Working Committee on June 5 removed him as the party’s treasurer and replaced him with ex-MP Subhasish Chakraborty. Trinamool seniors said they had already told HDFC Bank about the change.
Biswas on Thursday refused to comment on the letter. He has skipped all party meetings at former CM Mamata Banerjee’s Kalighat residence after the May 4 assembly poll defeat. His brother, Swarup Biswas, is now in police custody after being implicated in a host of corruption- and extortion-related cases.
HDFC Bank, too, did not officially react to the development. But a senior bank officer said the account had been put on “a debit freeze” (it would be impossible for anyone to withdraw money from the account). A senior Trinamool leader, however, strongly disputed this, claiming it was “a baseless rumour”. The account at HDFC’s Central Plaza branch, according to the audit report submitted by the Trinamool to the Election Commission, holds Rs 535 crore.
Trinamool spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said the party was aware of “the news reports”. “But we want to clarify just one thing: Biswas is not the party treasurer; the party treasurer is Subashish Chakraborty. We do not want to comment on speculations,” he added.
Chakraborty, appointed treasurer by the faction loyal to former CM Banerjee earlier this month, said he was unaware of the letter but emphasised that he was the “only Trinamool treasurer”.
The rebel camp welcomed Biswas’s letter. Assembly opposition leader Ritabrata Banerjee said Biswas did the right thing and the bank account should be frozen. “The account is not only about deposits. Who knows whether all the cut money was parked there,” he said.
Bengal commerce and industries minister and Maniktala BJP MLA Tapas Ray said the Trinamool had multiple treasurers. “The Trinamool has multiple treasurers. Everyone who is in possession of the money that the party has accumulated over the past 15 years through extortion, donations and other means are all treasurers of the party,” he said.
A thorough probe could throw up more revelations, he added, “We do not know where the money trail, if probed, may lead to. There is also the question of who will eventually enjoy the money,” he said.
Biswas’s letter to the bank said “rival groups were claiming to be the party’s legitimate representatives and office-bearers, resulting in uncertainty regarding the authority of persons who may seek to operate the bank accounts maintained in the party’s name”. Status quo should be maintained and “no debit transaction” or “change in operational mandate” should be allowed “to safeguard the funds and prevent any unauthorised withdrawals, transfers, encumbrances or other transactions... till the dispute is resolved or appropriate directions are issued by the competent authority”.
Biswas also claimed he had “previously faced considerable hardship and was subjected to harassment by various authorities in relation to alleged discrepancies concerning the accounts and financial affairs of the Trinamool”. “I used to sign cheques for operational and administrative requirements, which were thereafter retained at the party office for utilisation in meeting urgent financial needs as and when they arose,” he added.
Those “aforesaid signed cheques, if presently in circulation or custody of persons whose authority is under dispute, may be misused or presented for encashment without proper authorization”, he said, explaining why there was “a real and imminent risk of unauthorised transactions being carried out through the account”.