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Arpita’s photos with Mamata go viral, TMC denies link with accused
The cache of ₹21 crore in currency notes seized from the south Kolkata flat of Arpita Mukherjee is suspected to be the illicit proceeds of a recruitment scam the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation are probing.
The cache of ₹21 crore in currency notes seized from the south Kolkata flat of Arpita Mukherjee is suspected to be the illicit proceeds of a recruitment scam the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation are probing.
Who is Arpita Mukherjee and what is her alleged involvement in the scam? Mukherjee is said to an aide of Partha Chatterjee, the state’s commerce minister and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) party’s state secretary general, according to ED officials who declined to be named.
The ruling party in West Bengal has denied any involvement. “TMC has nothing to do with the money seized by ED. The persons, whose names have cropped up during the investigation, will respond to this or their lawyers may respond,” tweeted Kunal Ghosh, TMC spokesperson. “The party is keeping a watch as to why its name is being dragged. The party will respond at the right time.”
Pictures that went viral on social media, however, showed Arpita Mukherjee sharing a stage with TMC chief Mamata Banerjee, Partha Chatterjee and Subrata Bakshi, TMC MP and the party’s state president at a programme organised in 2019 by a Durga puja committee in south Kolkata patronized by Chatterjee.
Chatterjee was arrested on Saturday morning and was not available for comment.
“I don’t know any TMC worker or leader named Arpita Mukherjee,” TMC MP Santanu Sen had said on Friday.
Her mother, Minati Mukherjee, said she has no idea where the huge cache of money came from.
“How do I know how and where did she get such a huge amount of money? I came to know from the media,” she said. “I came to know from media only that she was the face of a puja committee that was patronized by Partha Chatterjee.”
When ED officials raided Arpita Mukherjee’s flat in a posh south Kolkata housing complex, they found heaps of currency notes and bundles of cash in sealed envelopes.
