Did Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee used Arpita Mukherjee's home as 'mini bank'?
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. "All the money was stored in one room that only Partha Chatterjee and his employees could enter," Arpita informed.
FollowArpita 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. "All the money was stored in one room that only Partha Chatterjee and his employees could enter," Arpita told the agency, according to NDTV reports.
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They went on to say that Arpita stated the minister used to visit her house once every week or ten days. She allegedly informed the agency that Chatterjee used to hide his money at her home and the home of another woman who is also a close friend of his.
Arpita allegedly stated that the illegal funds stemmed from payments received for school job transfers and for assisting universities in gaining recognition.
The ED claims that during raids on the minister's and his aides' homes, it discovered a list of 48 candidates with roll numbers for primary teacher posts, documents related to the appointment of Group D staff, including admit cards for recruitment tests, and a list of candidates on the letterhead of a former TMC MLA.
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Chatterjee, the West Bengal government's Industry and Commerce Minister, was detained a day after the searches. When the alleged swindle occurred in 2016, he was the state's education minister.
The seized papers are included in an ED plea filed in the Calcutta High Court on July 23 seeking quashing or modification of the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's order for Chatterjee to be transferred to SSKM hospital for examination and treatment.
The court papers also contain an arrest note filed separately by the ED, which states that the TMC strongman attempted to contact Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at least three times following his detention on the nights of July 22 and 23, but was unable to do so.
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