Kolkata: The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday conducted fresh searches at the premises linked to West Bengal Minister Partha Chatterjee’s aide Arpita Mukherjee in the teacher recruitment scam, sources said.
They said an apartment of her mother at Belgharia Club town in North 24 Parganas and three other premises has been covered in the action initiated today.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday arrested Partha Chatterjee in connection with the West Bengal Primary Education Board recruitment scam.
The arrests took place following the raids by the central probe agency in which it seized over Rs 200 million in cash from the premises of his close associate Arpita Mukherjee. She was also arrested.
Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials had on Friday raided the residences of Partha Chatterjee and another Bengal Minister Paresh Adhikari.
A total of more than 20 mobile phones have also been recovered from the premises of Arpita Mukherjee, the purpose and use of which is being ascertained, said the probe agency.
Besides cash, a number of other incriminating documents, records, details of dubious companies, electronic devices, foreign currency and gold has also been recovered from various premises of the persons linked to the scam.
No connection with arrest: CM
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday once again made it clear that she has no connection with the arrest of state Commerce and Industries minister Partha Chatterjee.
“Some mistakes are bound to happen while running a big organisation. If anyone makes a mistake and it is legally proved, the errant will be punished,” she said at a function of Titagarh Wagons Limited at Uttarpara in Hooghly district.
However, she also went on to launch a scathing attack against the Union government on the mode of operations of the ED in the matter.
“On July 1, we organised a mega rally at Kolkata which witnessed a record turnout. The ED operations started from 5 a.m. on the very next day. the ED can surely act. But was the necessity of that action early in the morning. This was a deliberate ploy to malign the image of my government by using the agencies,” Banerjee said.
She also claimed that the Union government and BJP are using the central agencies to topple the democratically elected state government in West Bengal just as they did in case of Maharashtra.
“But in West Bengal, that effort will not succeed. BJP will have to confront the Royal Bengal tiger before they try to grab power through unfair means,” the Chief Minister said.
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