Bundles of Cash, Gold Found at Arpita’s House

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) Wednesday seized Rs 27.90 crore cash and about 6 kg of gold from the second flat of Arpita Mukherjee, a close aide of West Bengal Minister Partha Chatterjee who has been arrested by the probe agency over his alleged involvement in a school jobs scam.

“Bundles of cash were recovered from a shelf while inspecting Arpita’s flat located in Belgharia Town Club in Kolkata. It took several hours to count the notes with the help of bank officials and counting machines,” an ED official said.  The counting went on till about 5.30 am on Thursday (July 28).

The seizure includes cash worth Rs 27.9 crore (Rs 2,000 notes packed into bundles of Rs 50 lakh each, and Rs 500 notes packed into bundles of Rs 20 lakh each), gold and jewellery worth Rs 4.31 crore (3 gold bricks of 1 kg each, 6 Bangles of 500 gram each among other jewellery and one gold pen).

Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress general secretary and spokesperson Kunal Ghosh called for the expulsion of Partha Chatterjee from the party and the ministry. “Partha Chatterjee should be removed from ministry and all party posts immediately. He should be expelled. If this statement (is) considered wrong, party has every right to remove me from all posts. I shall continue as a soldier of AITC,” he tweeted.

Arpita Mukherjee is already in custody of ED and is being interrogated over her involvement in the case. At least four counting machines were used to count the cash.

“Never have I stayed up the entire night. As soon as the officials entered the house, they found the cash packed in bundles. Most of the cash was recovered from the bedroom of her flat. Some were also kept in the washroom,” Ankit Churaria, one of the residents of the Club Town Heights in Belgharia, said. Arpita Mukherjee owns two flats in the society.

Besides cash and jewellery, ED officials have also recovered land-related documents from her house. According to sources, gold bars, silver coins, property deeds and CDs were recovered from her flat.

Partha Chatterjee was brought back to Kolkata after a thorough check-up at AIIMS Bhubaneswar, and was taken to the ED office at the CGO complex on Tuesday. On Monday, a special court remanded both Partha Chatterjee and Arpita Mukherjee in ED custody till August 3.¬_The Indian Express