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Former TMC minister arrested on corruption charges in Bengal
According to the Bankura district police, Mukherjee was allegedly involved in financial irregularities to the tune of ₹9.91 crore.
Former Trinamool Congress (TMC) minister Shyamaprasad Mukherjee was arrested on Saturday night on charges of corruption at Bishnupur municipality, where he served as chairman till 2020, police said.
According to the Bankura district police, Mukherjee was allegedly involved in financial irregularities to the tune of ₹9.91 crore.
A Bankura court remanded the accused in police custody for five days on Sunday afternoon. “I have no idea why I was arrested,” Mukherjee said while he was being taken to the court.
Police said they arrested him following probe into irregularities in tenders floated by the Bishnupur municipality. The complaint was lodged by the sub-divisional officer of Bishnupur, police added.
“Mukherjee was arrested after he failed to explain the irregularities,” said Bankura superintendent of police Dhritiman Sarkar.
Mukherjee joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on December 19, 2020, when Suvendu Adhikari and a host of TMC leaders quit the ruling party and switched sides. He was, however, neither seen at any BJP event nor was he given any post in the state committee.
The former legislator from Bishnupur assembly constituency was a minister in the first TMC government but was later dropped by chief minister Mamata Banerjee. He was not fielded in the March-April state polls this year.
“Irregularities were found in as many as 50 tenders. These were all related to development projects launched by the chief minister,” said Shyamal Santra, a former minister and TMC legislator from Kotulpur in Bankura.
“Mukherjee was never active in our party. The alleged crime took place when he was in the TMC. BJP has nothing to do with this,” said Samik Bhattacharya, Bengal BJP’s chief spokesperson.
