The Enforcement Directorate (ED) Wednesday summoned former Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Subhasish Chakraborty to its Kolkata office for questioning next week in connection with an ongoing money laundering probe into party funds.
Chakraborty currently serves as the treasurer for the Mamata Banerjee-led faction of the Trinamool Congress. According to ED sources, he has been directed to appear with all documents related to three party bank accounts that the agency recently froze.
The summons comes amid an ongoing power struggle over the legitimate ownership of the party, its name, election symbol, and financial assets. The agency had previously sought transaction details from the bank, which sources say have already been provided. Investigators now aim to cross-examine Chakraborty and corroborate his statements with financial records obtained from the bank and the party.
Chakraborty succeeded Aroop Biswas as party treasurer. Biswas had previously written to the HDFC Bank Central Plaza branch requesting a freeze on the three TMC accounts before joining the rival Ritobrata Banerjee-led faction.
The development follows a ruling by Justice Krishna Rao of the Calcutta High Court, who declined to grant interim relief to the Mamata Banerjee faction in its plea seeking a stay on the ED’s debit freeze. It had challenged the action taken under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The agency is investigating alleged money laundering involving party fund transfers for the acquisition of an aircraft and a helicopter. Three TMC bank accounts, containing an estimated Rs 440 crore, were frozen after the agency flagged suspicious transactions made to Carewell Aviation India and an associated entity between April 2023 and June 2026.
Appearing for the TMC during court proceedings, Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi argued that the ED’s freeze was an attempt to nullify a prior High Court order passed in a separate proceeding. Singhvi submitted that the agency imposed a fresh freeze under its PMLA probe despite knowing the accounts were likely to be de-frozen under earlier proceedings.
The agency defended its move, maintaining that the attachment was based on an independent money laundering investigation and had no bearing on earlier police action. Sources revealed the agency recently issued a formal request to the HDFC Bank branch for comprehensive deposit and withdrawal records, including timestamps and identity details of transaction parties.
Separately, Justice Saugata Bhattacharya appointed retired judge Justice Subrata Talukdar as a Special Officer until September 30. Under Justice Talukdar’s supervision, the High Court permitted the Mamata Banerjee faction to resume operating the frozen accounts to manage day-to-day expenses partially. The order allows any two authorised signatories to present cheques to the Special Officer as needed.
The Mamata Banerjee faction had approached the High Court after three accounts holding Rs 440 crore were initially frozen by the police. Following the party’s defeat in the Assembly elections, a rebel group of TMC leaders asked the bank to lock the accounts, citing a “serious dispute” within the party, and filed a complaint with the Bidhannagar cybercrime unit seeking a probe into the source of the funds, prompting an FIR and subsequent investigation.