Allegations against my wife "baseless, politically motivated", says Mamata's nephew

Kolkata, Mar 24: TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee, nephew of party supremo Mamata Banerjee, on Sunday refuted reports that two kg gold was seized from his wife's baggage when she recently landed here from Bangkok.

Referring to the reports in a section of media that his wife, Rujira Banerjee, was found to be carrying two kg gold by customs authorities at the city airport, he said, "If that was so, why wasn't it confiscated? Was the 'chowkidar' sleeping?"

Terming the reports as "baseless and politically motivated", he said his wife was "not carrying even two grams of gold" or any other dutiable or objectionable item in the baggage. He claimed that the commissioner of Customs Kolkata Zone had written to a junior officer to file an FIR against his wife on instructions from the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, New Delhi.

The Trinamool Congress leader, who heads the party's 'Yuva' wing, wondered how a covering letter by the commissioner, which was marked 'secret', could land in the hands of a television news channel.

Banerjee, who called a press conference at his office at Amtala in South 24 Parganas district here on the matter, alleged that the BJP was indulging in personal attacks against his family members, after having "failed" to fight the TMC politically.

PTI