Kolkata, July 23 (UNI): Senior West Bengal Minister and Trinamool Congress heavyweight Partha Chatterjee was sent to Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody for two days on Saturday by a local court after his arrest in connection with the School Service Commission (SSC) recruitment scam.
The ED also arrested Arpita Mukherjee, whom the central agency described as a “close associate” of the minister, and claimed that over Rs 20 crore cash was received from her residence on Friday.
State Commerce and Industries and Parliament Affairs Minister Chatterjee, arrested from his residence around 10 am on Saturday after a marathon 27-hour ED raid, was presented before the Bankshall Court in the afternoon under tight security.
The ED lawyers pleaded for 14-day custody, while Chatterjee’s counsels argued for his bail. After hearing both sides, the judge ordered that Chatterjee be kept in ED custody till Monday.
Chatterjee’s counsels also presented his medical records and pleaded that he be admitted to the state-run SSKM Hospital. Chatterjee had complained of indisposition a couple of times during his interrogation since Friday morning and was examined by doctors from SSKM.
The judge directed that Chatterjee be taken to SSKM for medical examination and asked the hospital authorities to submit a report about his health condition on Monday.
Chatterjee was the state education minister when the controversial recruitments to the posts of non-teaching and teaching staff of primary and secondary schools were made.
The central agency arrested the minister allegedly for not cooperating with its officials and failing to provide satisfactory replies to the posers, including those related to the recovery of the huge amount of cash from Mukherjee’s flat, sources said.
Chatterjee, the powerful secretary general of the Trinamool Congress and a confidante of chief minister Mamata Banerjee, was taken to the ESI hospital in Joka for medical tests after his arrest.
The minister, a five-time legislator who served as leader of the opposition between 2006 and 2011, said he tried to contact the state chief minister and Trinamool Congress supremo but could not get through to her. “I tried, but could not contact her,” said Chatterjee, replying to a specific query from journalists.
Earlier, after his arrest at around 10 am, Chatterjee was driven in convoy, escorted by central forces, for more than an hour, triggering suspense about the ultimate destination.
The raids had started on Friday morning at Chatterjee’s house as also the premises of his close associates and relatives in various parts of the state.
On Friday night, the ED issued a statement claiming to have recovered approximately Rs 20 crore in cash, suspected to be the “proceeds of the School Service Commission (SSC) scam”, from Mukherjee’s South Kolkata apartment.
At least nine ED officials took part in the raid at Chatterjee’s house as part of the central agency’s probe into the money laundering angle of the scam.
Chatterjee’s lawyers were also present at the residence during the major part of the raid.
While some central forces were stationed on the ground floor, a number of city police personnel stood on the lane outside the house.
