Jailed Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee leaves SSKM hospital for AIIMS Bhubaneswar

Partha Chatterjee will be shifted to AIIMS, Bhubaneswar, by air ambulance, accompanied by a doctor from SSKM Hospital and his advocate, as ordered by the Calcutta high court.

Updated on: Jul 25, 2022, 08:47:12 IST

By HT News Desk

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Officials of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) reached the state-run SSKM Hospital in Kolkata early on Monday where Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee, arrested in connection with the school jobs scam, is admitted.

Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee being brought out of SSKM Hospital in Kolkata on Monday. (ANI Twitter)

Chatterjee will be shifted to AIIMS, Bhubaneswar, by air ambulance, accompanied by a doctor from SSKM Hospital and his advocate, as order by the Calcutta high court. The minister was seen leaving the hospital in a wheelchair and being taken away into an ambulance for the airport. The flight took off around 8:40am.

The court directed that the minister be produced before a special ED court in Kolkata through virtual mode at 4pm on Monday. The multi-crore scam in the recruitment of teachers in state government-sponsored and aided schools took place when Chatterjee, who is also the Trinamool Congress secretary general, held the education portfolio. Jobs were allegedly offered in lieu of money while genuine candidates suffered.

Also read | ED car carrying Arpita Mukherjee meets with accident

Chatterjee was arrested on Saturday after hours of grilling and multiple raids that began on Friday as part of the investigation in the case. Agency officials seized cash worth over ₹21 crore and valuables costing lakhs from the house of Arpita Mukherjee, a close aide of Chatterjee. Mukherjee was also arrested and sent to one-day custody of the ED in connection with the scam. She will be produced before a special court on Monday.

The high court had directed the CBI to inquire into recommendations by the state's School Service Commission (SSC) vide which alleged illegal appointments were given by the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education in government and aided schools. The ED is probing the money trail allegedly involved in the case.

Also read | Partha Chatterjee’s arrest in job scam triggers differences within Trinamool

The federal agency moved the high court challenging a lower court order sending Chatterjee to SSKM Hospital while rejecting his bail prayer and granting two-day custody to the agency. It moved the revision petition before the high court and sought a hearing on a Sunday claiming urgency.

(With agency inputs)

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