Kolkata: Arrested TMC leader Partha Chatterjee’s close aide Arpita Mukherjee, who has also been held by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with its ongoing probe into the West Bengal school recruitment scam, has confessed before the central agency that crores of illegal money recovered during the raids were slipped into her residences without her knowledge.
It may be recalled that the ED sleuths have recovered around Rs 50 crore in cash, along with jewellery, from her two flats in southwest Kolkata and Belghoria. Both Chatterjee and Mukherjee were taken to ESI Joka, on the southern outskirts of the city, for medical check-ups, during the day.
Mukerjee, after deboarding a vehicle, told the waiting reporters, “Money was kept in my residences in my absence and without my knowledge’’, sparking speculation as to who was she pointing fingers at. Arpita Mukherjee has earlier confessed before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) that she was forced by West Bengal Minister Partha Chatterjee to allow her houses to be used to store the illegal cash.
She also reportedly claimed that whenever Chatterjee visited her residences, the suspended TMC Minister had closed-door meetings with the unknown person which she was not allowed to attend.
“While making these confessions, Mukherjee burst into tears a number of times and was constantly claiming that she was exploited. Now we have to get access to that unknown person referred by her. It is only Partha Chatterjee who can answer this,” an ED official said.
Partha Chatterjee, who has been relieved of his ministerial duties, has earlier said that he was a “victim of a conspiracy” and expressed displeasure over the TM’s decision to suspend him. The senior TMC leader had also said that only time would tell if the action against him was justified. Both Chatterjee and Mukherjee have said that the money recovered did not belong to them.
They will be produced before PMLA court on Wednesday, with the 10-day ED custody of the duo coming to an end.
Bureau Report
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