Kolkata: Slapped with a show-cause notice on Saturday for his June 12 letter to HDFC Bank seeking a debit freeze on Trinamool’s bank accounts, former state minister Aroop Biswas has responded with a three-page letter on Sunday, claiming that even while he was the TMC treasurer, he was unaware of multiple expenses incurred from these accounts. His signatures were obtained on cheques without any reason given to him, Biswas has claimed.Based on a separate FIR by rebel MLAs, Trinamool’s bank accounts at HDFC Central Plaza branch, which hold Rs 440 crore, have been put on a debit freeze by Bengal cops.Biswas was replaced as the party treasurer on June 5. According to sources, Biswas wrote in the letter that his signatures were obtained on cheques at various times without his knowledge. He claims he is unaware of where the money went or why the money was being taken, despite being the treasurer. He claimed that he does not know for what purpose the money from the party fund was used. However, Biswas said he was still in the party.TMC spokesperson and Beleghata MLA Kunal Ghosh, when asked about Biswas on Sunday, said, “I can say this much… communication has taken place between Aroop Biswas and the party. The rest is an internal matter of the party.” When asked whether Biswas remains in Trinamool, Ghosh said, “I have not received any news that Aroop Biswas is not with the party.”Biswas’s response is in line with his June 12 letter to HDFC, in which he wrote, “It is pertinent to mention that, in the ordinary course of functioning of the organisation, I used to sign cheques for operational and administrative requirements, which were thereafter retained at the Party office for utilisation in meeting urgent financial needs as and when they arose.” He said these cheques might be misused.
