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ED looks for 4 missing cars linked to Partha’s aide
The cars include a Mercedes benz, an Audi A4, a Honda City and a Honda CR-V, said the officials, requesting anonymity.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) was looking to trace four cars, including a Mercedes benz and an Audi A4, allegedly linked to a close aide of arrested former West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee as part of a probe into multi-crore cash-for-jobs scandal, officials aware of the matter said on Friday.
Agency officials said four cars allegedly owned by Arpita Mukherjee – who was arrested on July 23 along with Chatterjee – were missing from her parking lot in a posh housing society in south Kolkata.
The cars include a Mercedes benz, an Audi A4, a Honda City and a Honda CR-V, said the officials, requesting anonymity.
“One car which was parked in the basement was seized. Efforts are on to trace the other vehicles. CCTV footage is being scanned,” said an official. The federal agency as seized ₹50 crore in cash and gold worth ₹5 crore in raids at two houses of Chatterjee and Mukherjee are in ED custody in connection with the multi-crore recruitment scam that allegedly handed out jobs in government schools in West Bengal for bribes.
Seeking to control the damage from the scandal, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s nephew and Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee on Friday met the candidates who cleared the school service commission (SSC) exam but didn’t receive jobs, and who have been protesting in Kolkata for the last 502 days.
This comes a day after the chief minister sacked then education minister Chatterjee from the cabinet and the TMC suspended him from the party. He was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on July 23 for his alleged involvement in the scandal.
An eight-member team of SSC candidates who qualified the recruitment exam held in 2017 but didn’t get jobs went to meet Abhishek Banerjee in his Camac Street office in south Kolkata. The state education minister Bratya Basu was also present.
A few hundred candidates have been protesting in the city against the irregularities in the recruitment and demanding their rightful jobs for 502 days now.
“Abhishek Banerjee assured us that he would try his best to ensure that all candidates who qualified the 2016 exams for the jobs of assistant teachers in government schools for classes IX to XII get recruited . Our next meeting would be held with the state education minister on August 8. We are happy with today’s meeting,” said Sahidulla, one of the candidates who attended the meeting, giving only one name. The advertisement for the exam was made in 2016 and the written exam was held in 2017.
Meanwhile, candidates who qualified Teacher Eligibility Test for the post of teachers in primary schools staged a protest demanding that they be allowed to meet Abhishek Banerjee.
Irregularities allegedly also took place in the appointment of primary school teachers in 2014. The CBI is already probing it on the orders of the Calcutta high court along with the SSC scam. The ED has also started a probe to unearth the money laundering aspect.
On Friday, when Chatterjee was being taken to the hospital for a routine checkup he said that he was a victim of conspiracy.
“I am a victim of conspiracy,” he told reporters at the ESI Hospital, even as he endorsed CM Mamata Banerjee’s decision to remove him from the cabinet. However, he questioned the timing of the TMC’s action suspending him from the party, and said this could influence the ED probe.
Arpita Mukherjee, a close associate of Chatterjee who was also arrested by the ED and is now in the agency’s custody, broke down and refused to come out of the agency’s car at the hospital. She had to be dragged out and then taken inside on a wheel chair, as she screamed and broke down into tears.
“He should tell if he knows the people who are conspiring against him else let him not make such statements. People will suspect him all the more,” said Dilip Ghosh, BJP’s National vice president, in response to Chatterjee’s claims.
Meanwhile the BJP on Friday targeted West Bengal minister Paresh Adhikary. The Calcutta high court in May had removed the junior education minister’s daughter Ankita Adhikary from the job of a teacher in a government school for using fraudulent means to get the job.
“West Bengal MoS Education Paresh Adhikari misused his office and appointed his daughter as a teacher in govt school. High court removed her in illegal appointment but he still continues to be the Minister. When will @MamataOfficial take action against him? She has to answer,” tweeted Sukanta Majumdar, BJP’s state president.
The TMC launched a counter attack aiming Suvendu Adhikari, leader of the opposition in the state legislative assembly. He was earlier with the TMC and joined the BJP in December 2020 ahead of the 2021 assembly polls.
“The TMC was getting allegations against Adhikary and that’s why the party removed him from the post of observer of some districts. Later he joined the BJP. Investigating agencies should go there. They may find treasure trove. He should be arrested in Narada and Sarada scams,” said Kunal Ghosh, TMC spokesperson.
