KOLKATA: Five days after recovering cash Rs 21.90 core from the apartment of Arpita Mukherjee, a close aide of Trinamool Congress minister Partha Chatterjee who was arrested in an alleged recruitment scam in schools, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday found Rs 20 crore in cash from another flat in Belgharia near Kolkata owned by the model-actor.
The central agency, which is probing the money trail in the recruitment scam, brought currency counting machines to assess the volume of cash, which is suspected to be proceeds of crime of the alleged irregularities.
ED officials broke open the apartment’s door on Wednesday morning and started the search.
“The process of counting the currency notes is going on and so far, we counted Rs 20 crore. Besides, documents related to properties owned by Arpita were also found,’’ an official said late Wednesday night.
The agency also visited Arpita’s parental house in Belgharia on Wednesday. It recovered the cash along with jewellery worth Rs 74 lakh and foreign currency worth Rs 54 lakh from Arpita’s house.
The central agency on Wednesday also questioned Manik Bhattacharya, the TMC MLA from Palashipara, over the alleged malpractice in recruitment in primary schools, the fresh revelation that the ED made after taking Chatterjee and Arpita in custody.
The investigators probing the money trail in the recruitment scam in secondary schools through the School Service Commission (SSC) came to know about a list of 269 names that Chatterjee had allegedly recommended to Bhattacharya, who was also the former president of the primary education board, for jobs in primary schools in exchange of money, depriving competent applicants.
“We found four CDs mentioning names of the recommended candidates from the house of Bhattacharya which was raided last week along with 13 other places which include Chatterjee’s residence,’’ said an ED official.
The central agency started the probe into the alleged scam in the recruitment of teachers and group D staff through the SSC in high schools but the recovery of incriminating documents from Chatterjee’s house revealed malpractice in the recruitment of teachers in primary schools through the Teacher Eligibility Test, said the official. Sources said the agency is yet to interrogate Chatterjee and Arpita face-to-face.
The unaccounted money was found five days after the agency seized more than Rs 21 crore in cash, besides jewellery and foreign exchange from another flat of Mukherjee, who was also arrested on July 23.
The demand for dismissal of Chatterjee from the cabinet grew louder from within the ruling Trinamool Congress and the opposition parties.
Since this morning, ED officials conducted coordinated raids at various properties at Rajdanga in south Kolkata and Belgharia in the northern fringes of the city, which were reportedly owned by Mukherjee.
During questioning, she informed the ED about those properties.
ED sleuths had to break open a door to get into two flats in Belgharia's Rathtala locality as the keys to open them could not be spotted, an official said.
"We have found a good amount of money from one of the flats in a housing complex. We have brought three note counting machines to know the exact amount," an official told PTI when contacted.
Several "vital" documents were also found in the flats during a search, the official said.
Asked about the questioning of the minister and Mukherjee, the official said that though she has been "cooperative throughout", Chatterjee is not.
This is for the second time since July 22 that huge cash has been recovered in connection with the investigation.
The ED also questioned Bhattacharya at its office in CGO Complex in Salt Lake area.
His residential premise was searched by ED officials on July 22, after which he was asked to depose.
Meanwhile, the calls for dismissal of Chatterjee from the state cabinet grew louder as Leader of the opposition Suvendu Adhikari met Governor La Ganesan at the Raj Bhavan here, seeking that Chatterjee, who holds the industry, commerce and parliamentary affairs portfolios, be removed as minister.
"I had requested the governor to remove Partha Chatterjee as a minister. He is presently in ED custody in a corruption case," he said.
Fuelling speculations about Chatterjee's future as a cabinet minister, Trinamool Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said it has to be seen how the senior TMC leader sheds the tag of being "influential" without quitting as a minister of several departments.
"What he will do is up to him. He holds several portfolios as a cabinet minister. How he will shed the tag of being an influential person is for him to answer.," he said.
"This development is a matter of great concern. Such incidents have brought disgrace to the party and shame to all of us. He (Partha Chatterjee) is saying why he would quit as minister. Why is he not saying in the public domain that he is innocent? What is stopping him from doing that?"
"I hope the party would take note of the public perception and take appropriate steps," he said.
Earlier in the day, Ghosh had said it has to be seen how Chatterjee sheds the tag of being "influential" without quitting as a minister of several departments.
Chatterjee, who is now in the ED custody, was approached by reporters outside a hospital where he was taken for a medical check-up before being interrogated by the central agency.
Reacting to his comments, Ghosh said, "He holds several portfolios as a cabinet minister. How he will shed the tag of being an influential person is for him to answer."
Chatterjee is the minister for commerce & industry, parliamentary affairs, information technology and electronics, public enterprises & industrial reconstruction.
The ED has described him in the Calcutta High Court as an "influential person".
Hours after Chatterjee's arrest on July 23, Ghosh had told reporters that the party would not remove him as a cabinet minister or the secretary general of the TMC until he was proven guilty.
BJP national vice-president Dilip Ghosh, while reacting to huge cash recovered for the second day from a flat in Belgharia in North 24 Parganas district, demanded that Chatterjee should be immediately removed from the state cabinet.
"Partha Chatterjee has brought disgrace to himself and the entire state. He must be immediately sacked. This incident proves the level of corruption in the TMC and the state government," Ghosh said.
Amid the growing opposition demands for the removal of Chatterjee from the cabinet, his official car, used by him for over 15 years, was on Tuesday deposited in the state Assembly.
The TMC's mouthpiece "Jago Bangla"(Wake up, Bengal) has stopped naming Chatterjee either as a minister or the party's secretary general.
However, his name remains in the printer's line as its editor.
The ED has described Chatterjee in the Calcutta High Court as an influential person.
Chatterjee earlier in the day countered repeated queries by the media on whether he would resign by retorting why he should do so.
Hours after Chatterjee's arrest on July 23, Ghosh had told reporters that presently the party would not remove him as a cabinet minister or the secretary general of the TMC.
Amid speculations over his political future, Chatterjee's official car, used by him for over 15 years, was on Tuesday deposited in the West Bengal Assembly.
The TMC mouthpiece "Jago Bangla" (Wake up, Bengal), of which he is the Editor, has also stopped naming Chatterjee either as a minister or the party's secretary general.
The CBI, as directed by the Calcutta High Court, is looking into the alleged irregularities committed in the recruitment of Group-C and D staff as well as teachers in government-sponsored and aided schools on recommendations of the West Bengal School Service Commission.
The ED is tracking the money trail in the scam.
Chatterjee was the education minister when the alleged irregularities took place.
(With inputs from agencies)