Deeds linked to Arpita Mukherjee found at Partha Chatterjee’s house: ED official

Raids by the Enforcement Directorate at the residences of West Bengal commerce minister Partha Chatterjee and his associate Arpita Mukherjee on Saturday and the long hours of questioning before the duo were arrested have led to skeletons tumbling out of the closet, ED officials said.

The central agency had seized ₹21 crore in currency notes, gold worth more than ₹70 lakh and more than ₹50 lakh in dollars from Mukherjee’s flat. But the list doesn’t end here. The agency seized an array of other items from Mukherjee’s flat and at least 17 items from Chatterjee’s house too.

“The items seized from Chatterjee’s house include at least 13 deeds, some of which were linked to Mukherjee. At least one deed, comprising 44 pages, dates back to 2012, which suggests that the duo knew each other at least for the last 10 years,” an ED official said, seeking anonymity.

During the raid at Chatterjee’s house and his interrogation that lasted for 27 hours, “sufficient evidence” was found to support his involvement in the recruitment scam, the agency that investigates financial crimes told the Calcutta high court on Sunday. Ample evidence was also collected that suggests that Mukherjee was a close aide of Chatterjee, it had said at the special Sunday sitting.

The items seized from Chatterjee’s house include a hard disk and a mobile phone. The agency also seized a bunch of papers relating to appointment (of group D staff in schools) and transfer of posts and admit cards of candidates, copy of document relating to revised result of Teacher Eligibility Test 2012, a note from the president of the state primary board, copy of a chart relating to proposed teachers’ posting and copy of a paper relating to a committee of higher authority of state school service commission.

“The documents reveal that Chatterjee was actively involved in the appointment of group D staff,” said an ED official.

Chatterjee was arrested in connection with the alleged irregularities in the recruitment of hundreds of teachers and non-teaching staff in government schools. While the Central Bureau of Investigation is already probing the case on the orders of the Calcutta high court, ED in June lodged two first information reports to unearth the money trail that was allegedly involved in the multi-crore scam.

On Tuesday morning, Chatterjee was brought back to Kolkata from Bhubaneshwar. The ED is likely to bring Chatterjee and Mukherjee face-to-face for further questioning, officials said. On Monday, a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Kolkata had sent them to ED’s custody till August 3.

On Monday, ED’s lawyer had told the PMLA court that while around ₹21 crore has been seized, another ₹100 crore is expected to be seized. The agency suspect transactions worth crores of rupees were made for the appointment of teachers recruited through the School Service Commission (SSC)and the Teacher Eligibility Test.

The agency during its raid in Mukherjee’s house also found at least ₹5 lakh in cash in a government envelope in which the national emblem and the address of minister’s office were printed.

The list of seized items includes three diaries, 27 mobile phones, documents of more than 3,580 pages in 37 files and folders, bills and cash memos, evidence of two fixed deposits, a photo album of 55 pages, documents related to joint property with Chatterjee and two hard disks with storage capacity of 1 TB each, among others.

“While seven phones were working, three were brand new and unused and the rest 18 were non-functional. The phones and hard disks are being analysed,” said an ED official.

“Three diaries, including a pocket diary, an executive diary and a black coloured diary belonging to the state education department were seized from her home. They may hold vital clues,” the ED official said. “While Mukherjee used six mobile phones, three were brand new and 18 were hidden. The phones and hard disks are being analysed.”

The seizure list shows that while the executive diary had 31 written pages in it, there were at least 40 pages on which something were written in the black diary. In the pocket diary 11 pages were written.

While both the CBI and the ED have questioned multiple people, including top former and present officials of various boards, committees and commissions associated with the state education department, the information and documents the agency officials got after questioning the duo and the raids have brought a few other men under the scanner.

Trinamool Congress party MLA and former chairman of the West Bengal Board of Primary Education (WBBPE) Manik Bhattacharya has been summoned by the ED for questioning on Wednesday. Bhattacharya has already been questioned by the CBI. He was removed from the chairman’s post in June by the Calcutta high court.

Even though neither the CBI nor the ED has named Chatterjee as an accused in their FIRs, his name has been dragged into the scam for approving the formation of a five-member supervisory committee.

The high court had earlier noticed and recorded that it was this high-powered supervisory committee, approved by Chatterjee, which was the root of the alleged scam. His name had also cropped up in the findings of a committee headed by justice Ranjit Kumar Bag set up by the high court.