Arpita Mukherjee denies involvement in West Bengal SSC exam, says ‘money kept without my knowledge’

After Partha Chatterjee, his aide Arpita Mukherjee denied any involvement in the scam, saying that money was stored without her knowledge. Enforcement Directorate officials have recovered around Rs 50 crore in cash, along with jewellery, from her two flats in south-west Kolkata and Belghoria.  

Following the seizure of large amounts of cash from Arpita Mukherjee's home, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) recently detained Trinamool Congress leader Partha Chatterjee and his close aide in connection with the SSC school employment scam in the state. Both Mukherjee and Chatterjee refused to accept the Rs 50 crores in cash that the federal agency had discovered during searches on the actress' homes after being interrogated for several hours.

According to PTI sources, Arpita Mukherjee, a close assistant of Chatterjee who has also been detained by the ED in connection with the school recruitment scandal, said on Tuesday that thousands of rupees confiscated by the agency were secretly put into her homes. After getting off the car, Mukerjee told the gathered reporters, "Money was held in my dwellings without my knowledge," which raised questions about whom she was blaming.

Investigators from the ED have retrieved jewellery and almost Rs 50 crore in cash from her two residences in Belghoria and southwest Kolkata. During the day, Chatterjee and Mukherjee were both transported to ESI Joka in the city's southern outskirts for medical examinations.

Prior to being stripped of his ministerial responsibilities, Chatterjee had claimed to be a "victim of a plot" and expressed disappointment with the TM's choice to suspend him. The seasoned leader had said that only time will reveal whether the punishment taken against him was appropriate.

The money seized, according to Chatterjee and Mukherjee, did not belong to them. The duo's 10-day ED detention will finish on Wednesday, and they will be brought before the PMLA court.

(With PTI inputs)