SSC Scam: Its Not My Money, Claims Partha Chatterjee

ED seized around Rs.50 crore cash from Partha Chatterjee aide Arpita Mukherjee’s residences during raids in connection with alleged SSC Scam.

Mumbai: Partha Chatterjee, former Bengal minister has today asserted that the money found did not belong to him, days after large sums of money and kilograms of gold were recovered from the residence of his aide Arpita Mukherjee in Kolkata. During the raids related to the alleged irregularities in teacher recruitment or the SSC scam, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) confiscated around 50 crore rupees in cash from two houses of Ms. Mukherjee.  Both Arpita and Mr. Chatterjee were both detained earlier this month.

When the former minister, who has since been suspended by his party, was taken to a central government-run hospital in Kolkata today for a checkup, reporters encircled him. The former minister said they would find out everything “when the time comes” in response to a query about if anyone was working against him. When questioned about the recovery of cash taken from Ms. Mukherjee’s properties, he responded, “It’s not my money.

In addition to the cash, the ED officials also discovered a sizable amount of foreign currency, gold, and documents of several locations where the scammers kept their properties.
Investigators were informed by Ms. Mukherjee that the piled up cash were the bribes she got for transfers and for assisting institutions get recognition.

Mamata Banerjee, the president of the Trinamool Congress and chief minister of West Bengal, is accused by the BJP of being complicit in the alleged irregularities as well. The Trinamool eventually changed its position and dismissed Mr. Chatterjee as a minister after originally coming to Mr. Chatterjee’s defence and accusing the Centre of abusing investigation agencies.