Will Quit Politics if Charges Proven: Abhishek Banerjee Says Wife Didn't Carry Any Gold from Bangkok

Kolkata: Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee has rubbished reports that gold was seized from his wife’s bag at the Kolkata airport when she was returning from Bangkok.

Banerjee’s wife, Rujira and her sisiter Menka Gambhir had landed at the Kolkata airport on the intervening night of March 15, 16. They were at the airport for more than an hour. Banerjee, TMC chief Mamata Banerjee’s nephew, said that his wife had gone to Bangkok for a medical check-up.

On reports that Rujira was escorted by police officials on her way out of the airport, Banerjee said that she was unwell and had requested assistance. “Only one woman cop escorted her out,” Banerjee said. He also challenged the Customs department to show the CCTV footage to ‘prove that she was not given any preferential treatment.’

“If my wife was not cooperating with the customs department, why wasn’t the CISF called in?,” Banerjee questioned. He also questioned the customs department for filing the complaint a week after the incident.

The complaint was filed on March 22 by SK Biswas, Assistant Commissioner of Customs, Air Intelligence Unit, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International airport. The complaint says that Rujira and her sister Menka were apprehended on the intervening night march 15 and 16 with 2kg undeclared gold. It also alleges that the women did not cooperate with the officials and police came to her rescue, asking the customs officials not detain her as she was the wife of Abhishek Banerjee.

Rujira had filed an FIR on the morning of March 16 and alleged that harassment by the customs officials and said that she was threatened to be implicated in false cases and also being asked to pay an amount of Rs 50,000.

“If my wife was carrying old, why was it not seized? What were the chowkidaars doing?” Banerjee said while attacking the BJP. He also said that he would leave politics if charges against his wife were proven right.

He also hinted to sue BJP leader Kailash Vijaywargiya for his comments against Banerjee in this issue. In December 2018, the Calcutta High Court had put an injunction asking Vijaywargiya to refrain from making comments on the TMC MP. This was after Abhishek had sent a legal notice to Vijaywargiya on his comments at a programme in Nadia district, saying Banerjee was responsible for the death of 12 persons in the hooch tragedy.