Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee and party MP Abhishek Banerjee.
| Photo Credit: PTI
The West Bengal Police on Friday (June 10, 2026) froze 12 more bank accounts of the Trinamool Congress with deposits of over ₹1,000 crore, following complaints of illegal diversion of funds.
The police, and later the Enforcement Directorate, had earlier frozen the party’s three bank accounts with ₹440 crore. The Trinamool then challenged the police order in the Calcutta High Court, which allowed the party to use withdraw money from the accounts under judicial supervision. Party chief Mamata Banerjee moved the court on Friday (July 10), challenging the ED action.
According to police officials, the 12 accounts were frozen after the cybercrime unit of the Bidhannagar Police sent a notice to several national and private banks. “We have also sought the details of those accounts. For now, they have suspended those accounts, considering investigation purposes,” an officer said.
The action came on a first information report (FIR) registered on a complaint from MLA Sandipan Saha, who has now joined the Ritabrata Banerjee-led faction of the Trinamool. He has alleged illegal fund diversion from those accounts. The police have also so far recorded the statements of seven MLAs of Mr. Ritabrata’s faction over alleged illegal transactions.
After the cybercrime unit’s FIR, the ED launched a probe in the case and froze the three accounts. The Central probe agency also conducted a search operation across five locations in the city on Tuesday (July 7, 2026) and lodged another fresh FIR under Section 17 (1-A) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. (The section authorises the ED to freeze an asset, such as a bank deposit, when physical seizure is not practical)
On Friday (July 10), advocate Kishore Datta filed another petition on behalf of the Mamata Banerjee-led group, stating that the latest FIR by the ED posed hurdles to the party in withdrawing money. The court is scheduled to hear the matter on Monday (July 13, 2026).
On Thursday (July 9), Justice Saugata Bhattacharya-led Bench of the High Court allowed the Trinamool to operate the three accounts for the party’s day-to-day administrative purposes. However, the transactions will be under the oversight of a special judicial officer, retired Justice Subrata Talukdar, the court said.
Derek O’Brien’s poser
In the Rajya Sabha, Trinamool MP Derek O’Brien questioned the ED action, asking when it would freeze “temple funds”, in an apparent reference to the alleged embezzlement of donations at the Ram temple in Ayodhya.
“ED freezes TMC’s 3 bank accounts with HDFC. When will ED freeze temple funds,” Mr. O’Brien, Trinamool’s national joint secretary, said in a post on X.
Trinamool leader Kunal Ghosh criticised Mr. Ritabrata’s “double standard”. “If Trinamool’s bank account is problematic and the funds within it are illicit, then why did you [Mr. Ritabrata], two months prior, accept ₹25 lakh from that very account,” Mr. Ghosh asked.
(With PTI inputs)
Published – July 10, 2026 09:54 pm IST
