NewsCentral24x7 has learnt from authoritative sources that Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Abhishek Banerjee’s wife was caught travelling with valuables over the permissible customs limit and was subsequently let-off late on Friday night, after Kolkata police backed by political might interfered in the customs department’s jurisdiction.
Sources say Rujira Banerjee was travelling on a Thai Airways flight from Bangkok to Kolkata. As she was passing through the green channel at the Kolkata airport, she was apprehended with 2kg gold and over $10,000 in cash.
According to sources, Banerjee proceeded to call up her politician husband, who then directed the police to look into the matter. The Kolkata Airport falls under the jurisdiction of Bidhannagar City Police.
It is being said that the matter went as high as to the Bidhannagar commissioner Gyanwant Singh. After the police intervened, Banerjee was allowed to leave along with the undisclosed valuables, as seizing the items would have led to the incident coming on record, sources say.
Rujira Banerjee is reportedly a frequent flyer. She is the director of Leaps & Bounds Infra Consultants Private Limited. Her husband Abhishek Banerjee is the nephew of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and an MP from the Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha constituency. He is also the national president of All India Trinamool Youth Congress, the youth wing of the ruling party.
When contacted, Abhishek Banerjee’s office in Kolkata refused to comment on the issue.
The Airport police station redirected NewsCentral24x7’s call to Arup Roy Choudhury, Chief Commissioner, Right to Public Service Commission, West Bengal. Choudhury said that they do not know of any such incident.
The Bidhannagar commissioner’s office has also denied the incident.