‘Money slipped into my home without my knowledge’: Partha’s aide On ED Probe

TIL Desk/National/Kolkata/Suspended Trinamool leader Partha Chatterjee’s close aide Arpita Mukherjee, who has also been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with its probe into a school recruitment scam, said today that crores of rupees recovered by the agency were slipped into her residences without her knowledge.

Enforcement Directorate officials have recovered around ₹50 crores in cash, along with jewellery, from her two flats in southwest Kolkata and Belghoria. Both Mr Chatterjee and Ms Mukherjee were taken to ESI Joka, on the southern outskirts of the city, for medical check-ups, during the day. Ms Mukerjee, after getting off a vehicle, told waiting for reporters, “Money was kept in my residences without my knowledge”, sparking speculation as to who was she pointing fingers at.

Earlier, Mr Chatterjee, who has been relieved of his ministerial duties, had said that he was a “victim of a conspiracy” and expressed displeasure over Trinamool’s decision to suspend him. The veteran leader had also said that only time would tell if the action against him was justified. Both Mr Chatterjee and Ms Mukherjee have said that the money recovered did not belong to them.