ED arrests WB Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's close aide and minister Partha Chatterjee in teacher recruitment scam

Kolkata : After a marathon grilling of over 24 hours, Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials probing West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) recruitment irregularities finally arrested state minister and Trinamool Congress general secretary Partha Chatterjee on Saturday morning. A decision to this effect was taken after Chatterjee went into a state of non-cooperation after Rs 20 crore in cash and 20 mobile phones were recovered from his close aide Arpita Mukherjee's residence on Friday.

Sources said that like Chatterjee, Arpita Mukherjee has also started avoiding questions about the recovery of cash from her residence. This morning, ED officials in Kolkata told their higher officials in New Delhi about the non-cooperation from Chatterjee, who is currently West Bengal's Minister of Commerce and Industry.

ED officials in Kolkata also insisted on questioning him after taking him into custody. After getting a green signal from the ED headquarters, Chatterjee was arrested and taken to his office at the CGO complex in Salt Lake, on the northern outskirts of Kolkata, by officials of the central agency.

West Bengal | Another team of ED arrives at the residence of Partha Chatterjee, former West Bengal Education Minister, in Kolkata. The interrogation continues over the SSC recruitment scam, central forces outside his residence pic.twitter.com/wtQ9NGaMWs — ANI (@ANI) July 22, 2022

Chatterjee's lawyer Anindya Raut confirmed the arrest of his client. “However, the ED officials are yet to inform me about the grounds on which Partha Chatterjee has been arrested. They have asked me to reach the ED office in Salt Lake where they will hand over the detailed papers related to the arrest.

During the raids on Friday, ED officials also seized Rs 20 crore in cash from a property of Chatterjee's close aide Arpita Mukherjee. Mukherjee has also been taken into custody by the ED.

             

ED sources said that after being taken to the CGO complex, Chatterjee will face another round of questioning by ED officials, where he knows anything about the scam or the huge cash recovery from Arpita's residence.

       

He will be given the last chance to appear. Mukherjee. After that he will be produced in the court. The Trinamool Congress leadership was completely silent about Chatterjee's arrest till the filing of the report. The ED had conducted raids at 13 places in West Bengal to find out the money link in the latest scam that jolted the Mamata Banerjee-government.

Rs. 20 crore cash recovered by @dir_ed from the residence of Arpita Mukherjee; close aide of WB Education Minister Partha Chatterjee in the SSC scam case.
Sources claim that piles of cash were found inside WB Govt Education Ministry envelopes with
National Emblem printed on them. pic.twitter.com/xLsWQeVzL2 — Suvendu Adhikari • শুভেন্দু অধিকারী (@SuvenduWB) July 22, 2022

On the arrest of Partha Chatterjee, people and leaders were seen having fun on social media.

This is @MamataOfficial's Bengal model where cash stolen through illegal means in recruitment scams is coming out now.

ED has seized Rs 20 crore from premises of Arpita Mukherjee, close aide of WB Minister Partha Chatterjee.

Truly, TMC is breaking all records of corruptions. pic.twitter.com/OoXkZVyPMY — Dr. Sukanta Majumdar (@DrSukantaBJP) July 22, 2022