Around Rs 50 Cr Seized from Arpita Mukherjee So Far; 'Disgrace', Says TMC Leader

Rs 27.9 crore in cash was recovered from the home of Minister Partha Chatterjee's 'aide' on Thursday morning.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) recovered another stash of cash from the house of Arpita Mukherjee.

(Photo: Accessed by The Quint)

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday, 28 July, recovered Rs 27.9 crore in cash along with gold jewellery from an apartment of Arpita Mukherjee, an 'aide' of arrested West Bengal Minister Partha Chatterjee.

The ED had earlier said that cash amounting to Rs 20 crore had been recovered from Mukherjee's Belghoria flat on Wednesday.

In total, around Rs 50 crore in cash has been seized by the central agency so far, news agency PTI reported officials as saying.

Meanwhile, the police is still ascertaining the value of the seized jewellery, which is believed to weigh kilograms.

Earlier Raids

On Wednesday, the ED had seized money along with at least 3 kgs of gold amounting to nearly Rs 2 crore, which was found inside wall-mounted wardrobes in Mukherjee's Belghoria flat.

Another flat in the same society, which is suspected to belong to Mukherjee, was also raided and later sealed.

(Photo: Accessed by The Quint)

(Photo: Accessed by The Quint)

The agency reportedly found certain documents at Mukherjee's house, which are currently under examination. The probe agency found almost 40 pages of written notes and recovered several property deeds.

Enforcement Directorate personnel on Friday, 22 July, carried out raids at various places in West Bengal as part of their probe of the money trail in a teacher recruitment scam at government-sponsored and government-aided schools.

Photos posted by the ED showed enormous piles of Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 banknotes. "The said amount is suspected to be proceeds of crime of the said SSC scam," the ED said in a statement.

Rs 21.9 crore in cash, along with other items, was recovered from Mukherjee's residence.

Meanwhile, Mukherjee has been remanded in the ED's custody for 10 days. She will be produced on 3 August for the next hearing in the case.

Chatterjee was arrested by the ED in the alleged corruption case on 23 July.

Following his arrest, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee highlighted the need for a time-bound investigation, adding that those found guilty will be duly punished.

"If proven to be true, then put the person behind bars even if it is for life. People make mistakes. I know there are aspirants who are without a job, and I have formed a separate committee to solve that problem," Banerjee had said.

'Brought Disgrace to Party': TMC Leader

Meanwhile, TMC leader Kunal Ghosh said that the seizures from Chatterjee's aide had "brought disgrace to the party."

"This development is a matter of great concern. Such incidents have brought disgrace to the party and shame to all of us. He (Partha Chatterjee) is saying why he would quit as minister. Why is he not saying in the public domain that he is innocent? What is stopping him from doing that?" he said.

Further, Ghosh also demanded that Chatterjee be sacked as a minister in the WB Cabinet.

"Partha Chatterjee has brought disgrace to himself and the entire state. He must be immediately sacked. This incident proves the level of corruption in the TMC and the state government. I hope the party would take note of the public perception and take appropriate steps," he added.

What Is the Alleged SSC Scam?

The alleged scam occurred when Chatterjee was in charge of state education.

It involved alleged irregularities in the recruitment of Group C and D staff as well as teachers in government-sponsored and aided schools on recommendations of the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC).

The charge levelled against Chatterjee is that he provided jobs in exchange for money to those candidates who had obtained lower marks in the exam over those who had cleared the exam on merit.

It was also alleged that the ranks of students in the exam were changed.

A petitioner named Babita Sarkar had also filed a case against Ankita Adhikari, the daughter of West Bengal Minister of State (MoS) for Education Paresh Adhikari, claiming that Ankita's name was on the merit list despite there being more deserving candidates.

For the teacher's recruitment, Sarkar was ranked 20th in the merit list, but her rank was later changed to 21st when Adhikari was featured on the list.

(With inputs from PTI and NDTV.)