Over Rs 28 crore, 5kg gold seized from 2nd home of West Bengal minister's aide

The new seizure comes only days after Rs 22 crore was discovered in her Tollygunge residence as part of the teachers' recruitment scandal. The ED and State Bank of India (SBI) personnel were in Mukherjee's flat, where the counting began 4 p.m.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) seized at least Rs 27.90 crore in cash, Rs 4.31 crore in gold, and many silver coins from West Bengal Commerce Minister Partha Chatterjee's assistant Arpita Mukherjee's flat in Kolkata's Belgharia neighbourhood on Wednesday. According to reports, in addition to the clothes, cash was discovered in Mukherjee's toilet.  The new seizure comes only days after Rs 22 crore was discovered in her Tollygunge residence as part of the teachers' recruitment scandal. The ED and State Bank of India (SBI) personnel were in Mukherjee's flat, where the counting began 4 p.m.

According to authorities, the procedure lasted into the early hours of Thursday morning. In addition to the cash, gold, and silver, many papers were found from Mukherjee's flat.

The ED also raided two more of Mukherjee's flats in the same neighbourhood where the counting is presently taking place. Earlier in the day, the investigation agency searched the residence of Mukherjee's mother. She had stated that she was unaware of her daughter's affairs. The ED also visited another property in Kolkata's Ballygunge, but no damning material was found there.

Earlier, Arpita Mukherjee, West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee's close assistant who was detained with him in the school employment fraud, told the Enforcement Directorate that he used to stash money at her house and use it like a "mini-bank", as per report by a television news channel. The ED discovered Rs 21 crore in cash during its raid on Arpita's home on July 22. The raid's footage showed a significant mound of cash at her residence.

Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal, distanced herself from Chatterjee and stated that she wouldn't care if the Bengal minister received a life sentence if he were found guilty. While claiming that Mukherjee had previously attended Chatterjee's political rallies and shared the stage with the chief minister, the opposition has cornered the ruling TMC over the party's refusal to remove Chatterjee from his ministerial position.