West Bengal SSC Scam: Arpita claims Partha Chatterjee used her house as 'mini bank', admits money came from kickbacks

Arpita Mukherjee, the close aide of West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee who was arrested along with him in the school jobs scam, hass told the Enforcement Directorate that he used to stahs money at her home and treat it like a “mini-bank”, reported NDTV. 

In its raid on Arpita’s residence on July 22, the ED had found Rs 21 crore in cash. Visuals from the raid showed a large pile of cash at her home. 

“All the money used to be stashed in one room that only Partha Chatterjee and his people entered,” Arpita told the agency, according to sources quoted by NDTV. 

They further said Arpita claimed that the minister used to visit her home once in a week or 10 days. She purportedly told the agency that Chatterjee used to stash his money at her house and that of another woman, who is also his close friend. 

Arpita also reportedly admitted that the illicit money came from kickbacks received for school job transfers and for helping colleges get recognition. 

The ED has claimed that during its raids on premises linked to the minister and his aides, it found a list of 48 candidates will roll numbers for posts of primary teacher, documents related to the appointment of Group D staff, including admit cards for recruitment tests, along with a of candidates on the letterhead of a former TMC MLA. 

Chatterjee, who is the Industry and Commerce Minister in the West Bengal government, was arrested a day later after the raids. He was the state’s education minister when the alleged scam took place in 2016. 

The papers seized are listed in a plea filed by the ED in the Calcutta High Court on July 23 seeking quashing or modification of the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s order for Chatterjee to be taken to SSKM hospital for check-up and treatment. 

The court records also include an arrest memo filed separately by the ED which claims that the TMC strongman called Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at least thrice after his arrest on the intervening night of July 22 and 23, but could not reach her.

On July 24, the High Court directed the ED to take Chatterjee to AIIMS Bhubaneswar by an air ambulance. The hospital, however, said Chatterjee “doesn’t require hospitalisation at this time” and that the medical reports have been sent to the High Court.

On Monday, a Kolkata court granted 10 days' ED custody of Chatterjee and his alleged associate Arpita Mukherjee. Citing the AIIMS Bhubaneswar's report, the ED had prayed for 14 days' custody of Chatterjee. The court directed in its order that the two accused persons, who were arrested on July 23, be produced before it again on August 3.