‘Mamata Banerjee had no idea’: Trinamool MP on Partha Chatterjee-Arpita Mukherjee SSC scam

As the BJP now demands answers from West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee over the multicrore teachers’ appointment scam after sacked minister Partha Chatterjee claimed he has been framed, senior Trinamool leader and parliamentarian Saugata Roy said nobody, including Mamata Banerjee, had any idea that such a thing was taking place.

“We had no idea that such a thing was taking place. When we came to know about it, we took action. Mamata Banerjee sacked him from the ministerial post,” he said.

“If Suvendu Adhikari has any proof, he should rather reveal it to ED, not to the media,” the Trinamool leader said after BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari on Friday said the money recovered from Arpita Mukherjee’s flats — ₹21 crore from Tollygunge flat and ₹29 crore from Belghari — are only tiny foothills. “Hold your breath till you see a glimpse of Mount Birbhum and Kalighat,” Adhikari tweeted hinting at Mamata Banerjee’s Kalighat residence.

Here are the latest 10 updates of the Partha Chatterjee-Arpita Mukherjee case

1. Arrested former minister Partha Chatterjee on Friday said he was a victim of a conspiracy — breaking his silence after Trinamool removed him from the party and ministerial responsibilities.

2. BJP leaders said Partha Chatterjee then must reveal the names who have conspired against him.

3. Partha Chatterjee, however, said Mamata Banerjee’s decision to remove him from the Cabinet was right. “This decision (to suspend me) could influence an impartial probe… Only time will tell whether the decision was right or wrong,” he said.

4. On Friday, Partha Chatterjee was taken to a hospital for a medical check-up.

5. Partha Chatterjee’s close aid Arpita Mukherjee from whose flats ₹50 crore and many valuables have been recovered was also taken to the hospital for a check-up. In a viral video, she was seen breaking down and crying.

6. Four of Arpita Mukherjee’s cars have gone missing, ED officials said. The list includes a Mercedes, an Audi and two Honda City. ED officials said that they have gone missing from the parking space of Mukherjee’s flat in south Kolkata.

7. Two real estate companies have come under the scanner of ED officials. Documents reveal that they were registered in the name of Arpita Mukherjee’s north Kolkata flat. Officials said that while the share capital of one of the companies, floated in 2017, was around ₹1 lakh, the last balance sheet and the AGM of the companies were that of 2021.

8. Trinamool Congress MP Saugata Roy said Partha Chatterjee has embarrassed and dishonoured the party. “I don’t know if Partha is a victim of some conspiracy. He (sacked WB Minister Partha Chatterjee) has embarrassed us and dishonoured our party. We want a complete probe with an appropriate punishment for him and his associates… we took action against him, dropped his ministerial posts and took all party posts,” Roy told ANI.

9. In the course of the interrogation, Arpita Mukherjee claimed that the money recovered from his flats did not belong to her.

10. Arpita Mukherjee said Partha Chatterjee’s men used to come and keep the money, while she had no access to those rooms which remained locked.