Arpita Mukherjee: Meet Bengal Minister Partha's Close Aide as Spotlight Turns on Mamata Govt Amid Mega ED Raid

The Enforcement Directorate on Friday seized Rs 20 crore in cash from Arpita Mukherjee, an aide of West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee, in connection with an alleged teacher recruitment scam.

“The said amount is suspected to be proceeds of crime of the said SSC scam,” the probe agency said in a statement.

While the ED is seeking the help of bank officials to count the notes and ascertain the exact amount, photos of the recovered money, that shows cash in heaps, went viral on social media.

More than 20 mobile phones have also been recovered from the premises of Arpita Mukherjee, the purpose and use of which are being ascertained, the ED’s statement added. The agency also said a number of “incriminating documents, records, details of dubious companies, electronic devices, foreign currency, and gold” had also been recovered from the “premises of the persons linked to the scam”.

Other people under the ED scanner include minister Partha Chatterjee, who was the then Minister of Education in the West Bengal government when the alleged scam took place, Paresh Adhikary, Manik Bhattacharya, Kalyanmay Bhattacharya etc.

The Trinamool Congress, meanwhile, has accused the BJP of political vendetta. “This raid by ED, a day after the spectacular Martyrs’ Day rally that created ripples all over the country, is nothing but an attempt to harass and intimidate leaders of the TMC,” NDTV quoted West Bengal Transport Minister Firhad Hakim.

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Who is Arpita Mukherjee? What’s the connection between her and Partha Chatterjee?

Describing herself as a “multi-talented, versatile actor”, Mukherjee has been a part of a handful of Bengali, Odia, and Tamil films. According to a report by India Today, she was closely associated with the TMC Minister as the face of the latter’s Durga Puja committee in the last few years, one of the biggest in Kolkata.

To establish the connection between Arpita and the TMC, West Bengal Assembly’s Leader of Opposition and ex-Trinamool member Suvendu Adhikari tweeted pictures of the actor with party president Mamata Banerjee and Partha Chatterjee.

“Guilty by Association” – A legal phenomenon used to describe when an individual is guilty of committing a crime through knowing someone else. Just saying. Yeh toh bas trailer hai, picture abhi baki hai…,” Adhikari tweeted.

India Today reported that Partha Chatterjee frequently visited Arpita Mukherjee’s residence and that the current ED investigation is under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA)

The Trinamool Congress has distanced itself from the raids, saying the individuals who are named in the investigations must answer the authorities and that the party has nothing to do with the allegations.

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