The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday brought cash counting machines to the residence of Arpita Mukherjee, a close aide of arrested Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Partha Chatterjee. According to reports, the machines were brought at Mukherjee’s residence located in Belgharia Town Club after huge some of money was recovered by the Central agency officials during a search operation.
Both Mukherjee and Chatterjee have been arrested by ED in connection with a school jobs scam. Earlier in the day, both the leaders were taken for a medical check-up before being interrogated by the ED.
#WATCH | Cash counting machines brought to the residence of Arpita Mukherjee, a close aide of West Bengal Minister Partha Chatterjee, located at Belgharia Town Club.
After a search operation, ED recovered a huge sum of money from her residence. pic.twitter.com/Gf3Vt9NPdb
— ANI (@ANI) July 27, 2022
Huge amount of cash recovered from the residence of Arpita Mukherjee at Belgharia Town Club. So far, ED has seized Rs 20 crores and further recovery of money is expected. Earlier, Rs 20 crore was recovered from her residence in South Kolkata.
Chatterjee was taken to the central government-run hospital amidst tight security and was later escorted to ED office at the CGO complex in Salt Lake area. Raids are underway at a few places including at Rajdanga and Belghoria where three properties belonging to Arpita was found.
“We have found a couple of flats belonging to Arpita at Belghoria (in the northern part of the city) and another one at Rajdanga (in the southern part) where she has an office. Our officers are conducting searches there,” an ED official told news agency PTI.
ED officials also informed that Mukherjee has been “cooperative throughout the investigation, but the former Bengal education minister was “non-cooperative”.
The investigating agency has also found two diaries from Mukherjee’s home and said that coded entries in a black executive diary and one pocket diary might give important clues to the money trail in the WBSSC scam.
Both the diaries have several coded entries, which they believe pertain to the sources of the proceeds collected from the multi-crore West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) recruitment irregularities scam.
ED arrested Chatterjee, who is also TMC secretary general, on Saturday in connection with its investigation..