The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the West Bengal Police on Saturday, 19 September 2026, informed a district court in West Midnapore that Sumit Roy, personal assistant to All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) general secretary and Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha MP Abhishek Banerjee, had deposited ₹7 crore in the party's accounts between 2018 and 2021. The disclosure came during proceedings in an illegal land-grabbing case linked to Salboni in West Midnapore district.

The Land-Grabbing Case

Sumit Roy was arrested alongside former Trinamool legislator Sujoy Hazra and others in connection with an alleged illegal land-grabbing racket at Salboni. According to CID, the case involves the creation and sale of government-vested land through fabricated documents. Both Sumit and Hazra were produced before the court on Saturday.

What Sumit Roy Told Investigators

According to documents submitted by the CID to the court, Sumit reportedly told investigators that he deposited the funds on the instructions of the Diamond Harbour MP. He identified a person named T. Ghosh, described as the MP's treasurer, as the individual who handed him the money for deposit into the Trinamool party fund. Sumit denied receiving proceeds from the land scam but admitted to visiting Salboni on multiple occasions on party instructions, according to the CID's submissions.

The ₹7 crore was reportedly deposited into a specific account at a public sector commercial bank in Kolkata, registered in the name of the West Bengal Trinamool Youth Congress, as per the chargesheet filed earlier this month against Hazra.

CID's Key Assertion

CID insiders underscored the significance of Sumit choosing to deposit the funds into the party account rather than his own. 'When Sumit deposited the money in the party's account instead of his own, it cannot be his own decision. That is why we want to record the statement of T. Ghosh,' a CID source said. The agency has indicated it is keen to question the alleged treasurer to establish the full chain of instructions.

Court Grants Five-Day CID Custody

Public prosecutor Syed Nazim Habib confirmed the investigation's progress to reporters outside the court. 'We applied for seven days of CID custody. Sumit's counsel initially applied for bail but later withdrew it. The court ordered five days of CID custody for the arrested persons,' Habib said. Further interrogation of Sumit, Hazra, and co-accused persons is expected in the coming days.

Political Implications

The disclosures place the Salboni land case — already a politically sensitive investigation in West Bengal — closer to Abhishek Banerjee, a powerful second-in-command in the TMC and nephew of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Critics argue the case highlights broader questions about the alleged flow of funds from land dealings into party coffers. Notably, this is not the first time Abhishek Banerjee's name has surfaced in Central or state agency probes, though he has consistently denied wrongdoing. The Trinamool Congress has not issued an immediate public response to Saturday's court disclosures.