'Even if you slit my throat ... ': TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee defiant after FIR, CID summons

NEW DELHI: Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Saturday slammed BJP and declared that he would not be intimidated by investigative agencies after being summoned by the West Bengal CID in connection with cases registered against him.Reacting to the summons and the FIRs filed against him, Banerjee struck a defiant tone, saying, "Even if you slit my throat, you will have to take seven births to make me cower down."The West Bengal CID issued a notice directing Banerjee to appear before investigators at Bhabani Bhawan, the agency's headquarters in Kolkata, at 12 noon on June 1.Speaking to reporters after receiving the notice, Banerjee said he would consult his legal team before responding. "I am yet to see the content of the notice. I will consult with my lawyers and make an appropriate response. I will surely cooperate with the probe in whatever manner possible," he said.Banerjee further accused the authorities of deploying multiple agencies to target him and said no amount of pressure would force him to back down."Let them do whatever they want. They can do whatever they want. Understand it this way, earlier it was just ED, CBI and now it is Bengal Police and Kolkata Police too, along with KMC (Kolkata Municipal Corporation)," he said, ANI reported."There were 2-3 investigation agencies earlier and now it is 5. They think they will send 5-6 agencies after me and blackmail me into cowering down. I am not a person like that," Banerjee added.Earlier in the day, a CID team served the notice to Banerjee at his Kolkata residence after visiting multiple locations linked to the TMC leader.Also read: Mamata Banerjee lambasts rebels with 'Girgiti' poem after Bengal poll routThe summons is linked to a CID investigation into the alleged use of forged signatures of Trinamool Congress MLAs in a communication submitted to the West Bengal assembly secretariat backing senior TMC leader Shobhandeb Chattopadhyay for the post of leader of the opposition, PTI reported.The probe was initiated after the assembly secretariat flagged alleged discrepancies in the signatures of some newly elected TMC legislators on the letter of support. As part of the investigation, the CID has already questioned several party MLAs and is examining the circumstances under which the document was submitted.The summons comes amid a series of legal challenges faced by the TMC leader in recent weeks.Earlier on Monday, a team of Kolkata Police personnel also visited Banerjee's official residence, 'Shantiniketan', located on Harish Mukherjee Road in south Kolkata. Several officers, both in uniform and plain clothes, were seen at the premises.Neither Kolkata Police nor the Trinamool Congress officially disclosed the purpose of the visit. However, a senior police officer described it as a "routine official exercise". "There is no law-and-order issue or any special operation. It was part of a routine official exercise," the officer said.Also read: From Z-plus security to stripped surveillance: Why cops landed at Abhishek Banerjee’s residence