Former Trinamool Congress (TMC) minister Shyamaprasad Mukherjee was arrested by the Bankura district police on Saturday night on charges of corruption involving the Bishnupur municipality where he served as chairman till 2020.
It has been alleged that he was involved in financial irregularities to the tune of ₹9.91 crore.
A Bankura court remanded the accused to police custody for five days on Sunday afternoon. “I have no idea why I was arrested,” Mukherjee said while he was being taken to court.
Mukherjee joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on December 19, 2020 when Suvendu Adhikari and a host of TMC leaders left the ruling party and switched sides. He was however, never 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.
The police arrested him following a probe into irregularities in tenders floated by the Bishnupur municipality. The complaint was lodged by the sub-divisional officer of Bishnupur.
{{/usCountry}}The police arrested him following a probe into irregularities in tenders floated by the Bishnupur municipality. The complaint was lodged by the sub-divisional officer of Bishnupur.
{{/usCountry}}“Mukherjee was arrested after he failed to explain the irregularities,” said Bankura superintendent of police Dhritiman Sarkar.
“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 for 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.