The Enforcement Directorate on Saturday arrested Partha Chatterjee a day after it seized Rs 20 crore cash after raiding the premises of a "close associate" of West Bengal minister in connection with the alleged teacher recruitment scam in the state.
The probe agency on Friday launched coordinated searches at the premises of Chatterjee, the state industries and commerce minister, his aide Arpita Mukherjee, Minister of State for Education Paresh C Adhikary, MLA and ex-president of West Bengal Board of Primary Education Manik Bhattacharya and a number of other persons.
"During the searches, the ED recovered cash amounting to approximately Rs 20 crore from the residential premises of Arpita Mukherjee, who is a close associate of Partha Chatterjee. The said amount is suspected to be proceeds of crime of the said SSC (School Service Commission) scam," the federal agency alleged in a statement.
Who is Arpita Mukherjee?
The Enforcement Directorate has described Arpita Mukherjee as a “close associate” of Chatterjee. She is an actor who has done side roles in a few Odia, Bengali and Tamil movies.
Her Facebook bio reads, “A multi-talented versatile actor, having worked in several films in Tollywood.”
She has acted in 2009 film ‘Mama Bhagne’ alongside Bengali superstar Prosenjit Chatterjee and in 2008 film ‘Partner’ alongside actor Jeet.
She was also the face of promotional campaigns for Partha Chatterjee’s Durga Puja committee called the Naktala Udayan Sangha in 2019 and 2020.
Reports claim that Chatterjee frequently visited Arpita Mukherjee’s residence.
The ED's money-laundering case stems from an FIR by the CBI, which was first directed by the Calcutta High Court to investigate the alleged scam in the recruitment of Group 'C' and 'D' staff, assistant teachers of classes 11 and 11 and primary teachers.
On Friday, the agency shared four photographs of piles of cash in the denomination of Rs 2,000 and Rs 500 besides a number of sealed packets inside a room, without disclosing the quantity or the owner of the place.
ED sources, however, said that around Rs 20 crore in cash and more than 15 mobile phones were seized from the residence of a woman, a close associate of Chatterjee, in the city's Tollygunge area following a raid there in the evening, an official said.
