Jailed West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee came back to Kolkata on Monday after being discharged from AIIMS Bhubaneswar where he was taken by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) as directed by the Calcutta high court. Having being remanded in the ED's custody till August 3 in connection with the school jobs scam, Chatterjee was taken to the agency's office at the CGO complex in Salt Lake.
In a late-night order, a lower court granted the ED 10-day custody of the Trinamool Congress general secretary and his aide Arpita Mukherjee in the state School Service Commission (SSC) recruitment scam. The Bankshall court further directed that the two accused, who were arrested on July 23, be produced before it again on August 3.
The ED had prayed for 14-day custody of Chatterjee, stating that AIIMS, Bhubaneswar, had said in a report after medical examination that no active intervention was required over the minister's health.
Chatterjee was arrested by the ED on Saturday morning after hours of raids and questioning of several individuals, including the minister, his aides and senior board officials, leading to the seizure of cash worth over ₹21 crore from Mukherjee's south Kolkata residence. Other valuables like 20 i-Phones and jewellery worth lakhs were also found at her residence.
Following his arrest, Chatterjee was admitted to state-run SSKM Hospital stating that he was unwell. However, the ED said the minister was faking illness, following which the high court directed that Chatterjee be taken to AIIMS, Bhubaneswar, for a medical check-up by specialists of various departments.
{{/usCountry}}Following his arrest, Chatterjee was admitted to state-run SSKM Hospital stating that he was unwell. However, the ED said the minister was faking illness, following which the high court directed that Chatterjee be taken to AIIMS, Bhubaneswar, for a medical check-up by specialists of various departments.
{{/usCountry}}Seeking a longer custody, the ED said on Monday that Chatterjee was uncooperative with the agency's investigating officers and had also allegedly been initially reluctant to go to Bhubaneswar, adding that the minister needed to be examined jointly with “close associate” Mukherjee.
It said that Chatterjee and Mukherjee were involved in money laundering by indulging in criminal conspiracy for illegally giving jobs to undeserving candidates as teachers, adding several documents were recovered during search operation on July 22 from the minister's residence.
The agency further said it needs to be probed whether the buck stops here or is in some other place and whether there is more money involved that needs to be traced.